The Season of our Discontent
by Neuropsych
Summary: (COMPLETE) Andrew's not all that happy about how things are going in his life... Rated because Ian's in it and he has a potty mouth
1. 01

**The Season of our Discontent**

_Author's Note: This is an Andrew story, with everyone else thrown into the mix, because I love throwing everyone else in when I can. In a couple of the story's Andrew's mom underwent a slight spelling change on her name, which leads me to wonder how exactly I intended to spell her name in the first place. If you notice me spelling it differently from one chapter to the other… sorry! This story takes place at the same time the Horizons story ended off, just so we know what time of year it is… figure mid April._

Disclaimer: I only own those characters I personally made up, and am not making any money off this – although I did get a package of hob nobbs from someone – and a lot of postcards!

OOOOOOOOOO

"Andrew? Could you tell me what the variable in problem 12 is please?"

Andrew Stephens looked up from the doodles he was making on the scratch paper everyone else was supposed to be using to figure out their math problems, and took a quick glance at the page and the problem in question.

"Fourteen."

"Correct."

That didn't surprise anyone in the room – including the teacher. Andrew turned his attention back to his doodling, and ignored the whispers that were coming from beside him.

"Who is that kid?" This was from the new guy that had transferred in the day after Spring Break.

"Andrew Stephens," came the whispered reply. This was from one of the girls that had known him most of her life. "He never gets the answers wrong."

"Wow…"

Yeah, yeah. He was a genius, wasn't he? Yippee freaking skippee. Never gets a wrong answer, never makes a mistake…

Andrew sighed, and crumpled up the paper he'd been drawing on. They were wrong, really. He'd made several mistakes; the biggest being when he'd decided to return to school instead of joining Shawn Adams at the Air Force Academy. Shawn had _friends_. Shawn had _challenging classes_. Shawn had a very cool roommate – had even had _two_ up until a couple of months before. Shawn even saw Jack O'Neill and the other members of the SGC more than Andrew did.

Of course, at the time he'd had to decide, Andrew had been afraid. It'd taken him a long time to actually admit that to himself – and he'd never admitted it to anyone else – but he had been. He had been fifteen – a year older than Shawn had been, but he was all of 5 feet 6 inches tall and was lucky if he weighed a hundred pounds. He had been intimidated by the thought of being in a school filled with adults only. Even though they were only a few years older than he was, the difference was obvious, and when Shawn had asked him to join him when he'd accepted the early enrollment, Andrew had shaken his head and said that he'd think about it – and hadn't. He hadn't even discussed it with his mom and dad.

He'd just shrugged it off, and now he was paying for that. His classes were terrible. He hated them all. They were boring and easy and he never missed a question no matter how little studying he did. If not for the fact that he had to keep his grades excellent – because he _was_ going to go into the Air Force Academy the next fall – Andrew would just wad up his homework assignments and throw them away without bothering to do them.

Andrew was aware that he was probably just going through the whole _I'm sixteen years old and I hate my life _stage. The problem was… he _was_ sixteen years old, and hated _most_ aspects of his life.

If not for the lessons he had with the Asgard every school night, Andrew was fairly certain he would have gone mad a long time ago. The Asgard lessons were interesting – and although Mrs. Keller _looked_ a lot like Thor a far as he was concerned – none of his teachers were anything like the little gray alien that had been teaching him about technology and biology and all sorts of history for the last few years. They were challenging and interesting, and he wished that his real schoolwork was as interesting.

"Andrew? What did you get for 18?"

He turned his head at the whisper. Jared Sink was another kid who'd known Andrew for most of his life, and he wasn't above asking for help now and then. Well, not really help – it was more like _cheating_ – but Andrew didn't care. He looked at his paper. He hadn't written anything down yet, but he'd finish before everyone else, anyways. He looked at the book, and did the math in his head.

"Four hundred and seven."

Jared nodded, and went back to his work, content in the knowledge that he'd get one problem right, anyways, and Andrew gave another mental sigh.

The only good thing about the day so far was that he was going to see Teal'c that afternoon. Visits had been rarer and rarer as time had passed, and Andrew understood that things were hectic at the SGC – Thor had told him that Sam and Shawn's former roommate Ian had been taken prisoner by some system lord, but had managed to escape. And Sam had had her baby. A boy, just like Shawn had said it was going to be. Andrew hadn't seen the baby, yet, although Sam and Jack had both called him and invited him over. Andrew hadn't wanted to impose.

He liked Sam and Jack – God, he loved Sam and Jack – but he knew what a hassle a new baby could be, and he didn't want them thinking that they had to invite him over. He'd made up an excuse and promised he'd come see the baby – Jake – another time.

But today, he was going to have a chance to see Teal'c, and maybe he'd have a chance to see if the Jaffa wanted to spend a little free time that weekend with him – maybe they could even do some self-defense classes. Teal'c had been teaching Andrew basic moves whenever the two of them had a chance to get some time together, and Andrew thought the moves were pretty much the coolest thing ever. He never needed to use them – no one at his school hated him enough to pick a fight with him – but he always dreamed that some day he'd end up in the middle of some huge brawl and end up wiping the floor with those around him.

"Thirty minutes left…" The teacher announced, drawing Andrew's attention back to reality. They'd been doing an impromptu quiz – not something Andrew was all that worried about since Thor and he and Shawn had covered Algebra back when he'd been 12 – but Andrew knew he needed to get started n it so he'd have something to turn in. Had to keep the teachers happy, after all. Had to keep everyone around him happy. No matter than he was about as miserable these days as he could be.

He picked up his pen and looked at the first problem.

OOOOOOO

"Ian Brooks…"

Ian looked up from his book and saw Teal'c standing by the table he was sitting at. The Jaffa was looking down at him with a slightly annoyed expression on his normally impassive face, which made Ian wonder what he'd done to piss him off.

"Yeah?"

"Are you occupied?"

He shook his head.

"No. Just reading a textbook for next year – _if_ I decide to take the class. Did you need something?"

"Indeed. I am scheduled to meet with Andrew Stephens, and my car will not start. The motor pool corporal says they will not get it running until tomorrow."

"You want to borrow mine?"

Teal'c smiled, and shook his head. It was a nice offer, but he didn't like driving all that much, and Ian's convertible had a lot more horsepower than he was used to.

"I was actually wondering if you would be willing to give me a lift…? If you are not busy."

"Sure, Teal'c," Ian said, closing the book and standing up. He'd love a chance for some fresh air, and it wasn't like they needed him around here – he was just killing time. "Where are we going?"

"McKinley High School. Do you know where it is?"

Ian nodded. He'd seen it a couple of times, and knew he could find his way back.

"Sure."

"I was to meet Andrew there and take him to get a meal before taking him home – if you do not mind?"

"Not at all – I'm always up for a burger or something." And Fraiser was still trying to fatten him up.

"Thank you."

"You sure he won't mind me tagging along?"

Teal'c shrugged.


	2. 02

Author's Note: This chapter might be a little boring... sorry :)

OOOOOOOOOOO

When Ian and Teal'c pulled up to the visitor's parking lot at the High school, Andrew was already waiting. He ignored the convertible at first, since he wasn't looking for Sam's car – now Ian's. He was watching for the nondescript military sedan that Teal'c normally drove, instead, and only when he realized that the huge back guy in the front seat of the car was Teal'c did he realize that it was Sam's car. Although he had heard that Sam and Jack had given it to Ian Brooks – Shawn's former roommate and now a temporary member of SG-1 – as a thank you present. Andrew wished _he_ could get presents like that – even though he didn't have his permit yet.

He walked over, wondering why Teal'c hadn't driven himself, but feeling a little surge of excitement as well. He'd heard a lot about Ian Brooks from Shawn and Teal'c – both of whom really admired the guy, which said a lot about him – and had been hoping that some day he'd have a chance to meet him. Shawn had said that Ian was a bit rough around the edges – Teal'c called him a work in progress – but they both liked him. Which meant that Andrew figured he had to be someone pretty interesting.

"Hi, Teal'c."

Teal'c smiled at him from the front seat of the car. Andrew couldn't help but feel good when he was with Teal'c – no matter how crappy his day might have been. The big Jaffa was probably his favorite person in the world – aside from his folks, of course. And Shadow, maybe, but she didn't count, because she was a dog. Add to that the fact that Teal'c _never_ smiled, but always smiled at him, and it made him feel good. Behind Teal'c, sitting in the backseat of the convertible, was Jack, who was wagging his tail happily. Jack liked Andrew!

"Andrew, it is good to see you again."

Which might not have sounded like all that great a greeting, but for Teal'c it was enthusiastic, and Andrew knew it. Which made him feel even better.

He smiled, looking from Teal'c over the guy behind the wheel. Andrew had seen a picture of Ian once, so he knew this was him, but he really had expected him to be bigger than he was, and maybe a little more intimidating.

"This is Ian Brooks," Teal'c said, introducing the two. "My vehicle is not working, and he offered to drive me – otherwise I would have had to cancel our meeting, and I did not wish to do that."

"I'm glad you didn't," Andrew said truthfully, reaching over Teal'c and offering Ian his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Ian. I've heard a lot about you from Shawn."

Ian took Andrew's hand – a good thing about convertibles, eh? – and nodded. He'd heard about Andrew as well. Not so much from Shawn, but from Jack and Teal'c – and even Sam. He was sixteen – barely – and the other person that Thor was giving lessons to. Which interested Ian, really, since no one seemed to know exactly what it was that the Asgard wanted from them once they'd learned – although Shawn had promised to tell Jack the minute Thor told him. Presumably, Thor was keeping them in the dark until they knew enough, and Ian supposed he could understand that – although Shawn seemed to think it was genetically orientated since they were learning a lot of sciences and the math needed to keep up with the science. Which told Ian that Shawn could be right.

"How are you?" Ian asked politely, shaking his hand without testing his grip – macho guy bullshit that Ian didn't really buy into – and releasing it again. "You don't mind sitting in the back with Jack?"

Andrew shook his head. Like he'd _ever_ mind sitting next to a dog?

Teal'c opened the door and leaned forward, taking the seat with him so Andrew could squeeze in. It wasn't hard, although his backpack hung him up for a minute.

As Andrew settled himself, putting on his seatbelt, Ian looked at him in the mirror. Andrew was pretty much nondescript, really. A little scrawny for sixteen – and he probably got teased about that, Ian bet – with dark hair and blue eyes that sparkled with good health and intelligence.

"Do you guys want me to just drop you somewhere and come get you later?" He asked, giving them the chance to dump him if they didn't want his company.

Andrew shook his head.

"I'm okay with whatever Teal'c wants."

He was, too. He just wanted to be able to have an intelligent conversation with someone. And spend time with people who didn't think of him as the smartest person in school, or someone who you just mooched answers off of.

"We will buy you a burger, Ian," Teal'c offered, tendering the Cadet an invitation to join them.

"Sounds good."

Ian put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space. Dairy Queen sounded good, and it was a nice enough day that they could take advantage of the little tables in the grass outside the restaurant so that Jack could join them.

OOOOOOOOO

Ian didn't speak much while he made his way through the double cheeseburger, fries and milkshake that he ordered. He did listen, however, as Teal'c interrogated Andrew about how his day had been – and then how the rest of the time had been since the two of them had last seen each other. It was obvious to Ian that the Jaffa really cared, too, because the questions were more than just 'how are you and how have you been'. Teal'c asked questions that required real answers, and even though Ian didn't participate in the conversation, he did find out a lot more than Andrew probably intended to let show.

It was obvious to Ian that Andrew wasn't quite as happy a camper as everyone probably thought he was. He was cheerful enough, yeah, but when answering questions about his schoolwork – his _real_ schoolwork, not the Asgard stuff that Teal'c didn't bring up for obvious reasons – his expression turned bitter and his voice was filled with contempt. Not for Teal'c of course, just for the classes he was taking – which were advanced, but nothing compared to what he was ready for.

Ian understood how the boy felt. It was common knowledge that smart kids – geniuses, or whatever you wanted to call them – almost always had it rough in school. Not that the teachers didn't care, but there were a lot of kids in front of them and they had to work with _all_ of them, not focus solely on challenging the super bright ones. Some of them were able to handle it, finding stuff on their own to do to keep themselves occupied, but many tended to simply get lazy because they didn't feel any need to try, and many never used the brains they'd been born with because of it.

Ian knew all this because he'd looked it up one day while he'd been sitting through a class that he had no desire to attend. He had been a prime example of one of those kids – although he'd also been blessed with a mother that always made sure he had something to keep him occupied, even though for the life of her Maggie Brooks hadn't been able to find anything that was a real challenge. _She'd_ seen the need, though – mainly because Ian had never been good at hiding how he felt about _anything_ – and she'd tried. Lots of parents would try if they knew there was a problem, but most kids were better at hiding the problem than Ian had been.

By the time Ian had finished his strawberry sundae, he was pretty sure that Andrew was a lot like he'd been – scary as that thought was – only without the attitude. He didn't say anything, though. Instead, he gathered up all the trash when they had finished eating and threw it away while Teal'c and Andrew continued chatting – although now it was about family members that Ian didn't know and past events that Ian hadn't heard of.

Teal'c asked Andrew if he wanted to go to a movie or something, but Andrew sighed and shook his head.

"I have to be home by five. But would you like to do something this weekend?"

Since it was already Thursday, it was hardly a lot of notice, but Ian knew that Teal'c didn't have anything planned – at least nothing offworld – and wasn't surprised to see the Jaffa nod.

"If you wish. I will call you later and make arrangements."

Andrew nodded, his smile far more genuine and happy than anything Ian had seen before.

"I'll let mom know."

He and Teal'c chatted more as Ian drove Andrew home, and when he pulled up in front of the house, Andrew smiled again as he got out, slapping Jack's side affectionately.

"It was nice meeting you, Ian. Thanks for the ride."

Ian nodded.

"Any time."

"I'll talk to you later, Teal'c."

"Indeed. I will call you this evening."

They both watched as Andrew walked to the door, was swarmed over by a large black lab and headed inside. But before Ian could put the car in gear, Teal'c spoke up.

"There is something bothering Andrew…"


	3. 03

"Indeed." Teal'c paused for a moment, looking towards the house, and then spoke again. "One of my functions as First Prime to Apophis was to interrogate and assimilate information from my former Master's captured enemies. Even if I did not know Andrew so well, I am trained to recognize nuances in expression and voice, and could not have missed the signs. Because I do know him so well, however, it was obvious."

It was the longest speech Ian had actually heard Teal'c give anyone, and he'd never asked the Jaffa about his life before he'd defected to join the SGC – and he wouldn't. Teal'c continued speaking, turning now to look at Ian.

"I have noticed it before, but when I ask Andrew what is bothering him, he simply shrugs and tells me it is nothing."

"It's something."

Teal'c nodded.

"Indeed."

"So…" Ian hesitated. None of this was rally his business, but he was pretty sure that Teal'c was feeling way out of his comfort zone on this one – what did a Jaffa know about teenaged boys, after all? "Have you discussed it with his mom and dad?"

Teal'c nodded, again. Of course he had. He was methodical and David and Miyra Stephens had been the first he'd turned to.

"They do not understand what the problem is, either. Andrew is normally a social child, but recently he has…"

"Withdrawn? Been moody? Grumpy?"

The Jaffa nodded, surprised.

"All of those. His parents have tried to talk to him as well, but he gives them the same response he gives me."

Ian nodded. Big shock there. His parents would have been the last person Ian would have turned to, either, if his mother had given him a choice in the matter. Maggie, however, was a far stronger willed person than anyone gave her credit for – she had to be to deal with the fiery tempers of her husband and son.

"He's probably having a rough time at school, Teal'c," Ian told him, putting the car in gear and heading back out onto the road. He didn't want Andrew to come back out and see why they were sitting in the car not going. "Either he's bored, or getting picked on by some assholes, or-"

"He does not mention being picked on, or having troubles."

"And he wouldn't," Ian said, shrugging. "_I_ wouldn't, if it was me."

Of course, no one had ever picked on Ian. Some kids had tried, of course. Ian had been a fairly small guy himself when he'd been younger, but they'd learned quickly that small or not, Ian wasn't going to back down no matter how many of them there were and was just as apt to beat the shit out of those picking on him as he was to be beaten up. Once they'd learned that, he'd been left alone – and usually given a wide berth. His temper was something of a hindrance sometimes, but it served him well other times.

Teal'c looked over at him, pondering what had been said, while Ian drove them back to the SGC. Neither of them were big on small talk – which was one of the reasons they got along so well – so neither said anything until Ian pulled into the main gate and parked in the spot usually reserved for Jack. His truck wasn't there – it was after 5 and he was probably home with Sam and Jake, since Sam's car was gone, too. Then Teal'c spoke again.

"May I ask you a question that is wholly personal, Ian Brooks?"

Ian shrugged.

"Sure."

"When you were younger did you have similar difficulties?"

Yeah, that _was_ a personal question, wasn't it? Ian didn't mind, though. He nodded.

"School can be hard for smart kids, Teal'c. It was for me."

"How does one deal with the problem?"

"I'm not a shrink, Teal'c."

"How did _you_ deal with it?"

"My mom kept me pretty busy."

"Do you believe I should tell Andrew's parents to give him more housework?"

Ian shook his head. More dishes and vacuuming weren't the answer – although he didn't know what the answer was.

"I'm not really even sure that's what's wrong with your friend, Teal'c. It might be something else, completely. Maybe he's having girl troubles – or maybe his teachers don't like him."

"How do I find out what the problem is if _he_ will not tell me?"

Teal'c really sounded frustrated – which was saying something, because Ian rarely saw him show any emotions. But Ian didn't have a clue, either.

"I'm probably not the person to ask, Teal'c."

For that matter, he was probably the last person to ask. His people skills rated right up there with his baby holding skills.

"Andrew seemed to take a liking to you," Teal'c noted, looking over once more, and making no move to get out of the car.

Ian shrugged.

"He's probably heard plenty about me from Shawn."

Teal'c was silent again, and Ian wondered what was going on in that bald head of his. Surely he wasn't thinking that _Ian_ would be a good choice to talk to the kid. He wasn't. He was a _jerk_, and hardly anyone's ideal choice of a role model.

"I would ask a favor of you, Ian Brooks…" Teal'c said.

He couldn't even hide the consternation he felt when Teal'c said that. He was! He was going to ask him to-

"Teal'c, I'm not a very-"

"There is a chance he might tell you what he will not tell me or his parents. You are closer to his age, and have experienced what he is going through… I have… I am not completely familiar with the workings of the mind of adolescents. Not human ones, at least."

Or Jaffa, for the matter. He couldn't even figure out his _own_ son half the time.

"I'm not a good role model."

"He does not require a role model, Ian Brooks. Andrew knows the difference between right and wrong. What he needs is someone to talk to who will understand him – and what he is going through. Even if all you do is get him to talk to you; if you can tell me what is bothering him, _I_ will deal with it."

"But-"

Ian sighed. Teal'c had never asked him for anything before. Had always been good to him, and had been training him without asking anything in return. He'd done it out of mutual friendship and enjoyment for the teaching – like Ian had enjoyed the learning. It was obvious this was important to Teal'c, or he'd never have asked. Just as obvious that this kid meant a lot to the Jaffa, because again, he'd never have asked. It wasn't such a big thing, was it? And if it would make Teal'c happy… well…

"What do you want me to do?"


	4. 04

_Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, everyone. My mom's in town visiting and I wanted to spend some time with her before she goes back home._

OOOOOOOO

"I've gotta be out of my fucking mind…"

It wasn't the first time he'd thought it – or said it aloud to himself – and it probably wasn't going to be the last. Ian was pulling up in front of the Stephens' house the next morning with all the excitement of a guy heading to the executioner's block.

He'd hoped that Andrew would be waiting on the front porch, but knew that was probably too much to ask for. For one thing, the guy's parents would probably want Ian to come in and meet them – he _was_ taking their son with him after all, and even though Teal'c had called and arranged for it the night before, Ian was still a stranger to them. For another, why would Andrew wait on the front porch for him? Ian wouldn't have waited on the porch for anyone. Well, not when he was sixteen, anyways.

Things change, though.

He sighed, and parked the car, and then headed up the walk.

The lawn was beautiful; even though the grass still held the browns and yellows of winter, it was obviously well-tended and there were flowerbeds on either side of the house and in front of the large porch. Someone loved yard work, he decided, shaking his head. When he walked up the four steps onto the porch, Ian saw a porch swing to his left and a small bicycle lying on its side to his right. Little brother, perhaps?

The cadet didn't see a doorbell, so he knocked, and inside the house there was sudden barking and scuffling on the other side of the door.

"Back, Shadow," he heard, and a moment later the door opened, revealing a little boy who looked up at Ian as the large black lab the cadet had seen the day before tried to crowd past him to see who was at the door, too.

"Hi. I'll bet you're Ian."

Blonde hair and green eyes in an utterly guileless face that grinned cheerfully at him.

Ian nodded, stopping himself from saying something sarcastic at the last moment.

"Yeah."

"Come in."

Ian scowled, wondering where this kid's mom was and why she wasn't there to keep him from allowing strangers in the house. Of course, he was flanked by a big dog, which would probably make most would-be trouble makers think twice – Shadow was Jaffer's mother, Ian knew, and she wasn't as big as Jack's dog, but she was just as big as his own lab, Bubba, and that was saying something.

"Is Andrew here?" Ian asked without making a move to go inside.

"He's getting dressed. _I'm_ Micah, his-"

"Micah?"

The boy and Ian both looked down the entrance hall as a woman approached, and Ian felt a little relieved when he saw that she was frowning at the kid.

"How many times do I need to tell you not to answer the door? He could have been an axe murderer."

"He's not," Micah answered, looking a little annoyed at getting a lecture – although it was obvious that they'd both had this conversation before. "Are you, Ian?"

Ian shook his head.

"No."

Miyra Stephens smiled and pushed open the door in invitation.

"Please, come in, Ian. I _can_ call you Ian, can't I? I'm Miyra Stephens, Andrew's mother, and this is Micah, his cousin. _And_ Shadow."

Shadow had already bolted through the door and was behind Ian, now, shoving her graying muzzle into Ian's back pocket and then sniffing loudly as she worked her way down his leg. Ian didn't mind the dog at all – _he_ liked dogs, and especially labs – but Miyra called her off, pulling Micah out of the way as Ian entered the house, looking around.

"Andrew's just getting dressed," Miyra said, smiling and closing the door behind him. "Have you had breakfast?"

Feeling just a little overwhelmed by the hospitality, Ian shook his head, even though he'd meant to lie and say he had. He wondered if a can of pop counted as breakfast.

"Good. You can come eat while you wait for Andrew. _Andrew_! Hurry up, Ian's here."

From somewhere above them – although Ian didn't see a staircase – they all could hear Andrew yelling that he was coming. Miyra smiled again and led Ian down the hall and into a very comfortably furnished living room with pictures all over the walls – reminding Ian of Jack's Wall – and into a huge kitchen that was dominated by a breakfast nook that had to be big enough to seat a dozen people – even though at the moment there was only one. A girl about Ian's age, with black hair pulled back into a ponytail and a frankly admiring expression in her blue eyes as she watched Ian approach.

"Ian, this is Anna – Andrew's sister."

"Hi."

Anna smiled – and the smile was predatory, which made Ian immediately uncomfortable. Of course, he already _was_, so it wasn't all that hard.

"Hello," Anna said, gesturing for him to sit down. On the table was a large plate of pancakes and another with sausages – which smelled delicious – and a pitcher of some kind of pink juice. Obviously, Andrew's family believed in sitting down to a meal when the occasion permitted.

"Sit down, Ian," Miyra ordered, pushing him into a chair across from Anna as Micah took the chair beside him – a plate in front of him with half-eaten pancakes testimony to the fact that Ian had interrupted the little boy's breakfast. "I'll get you a plate."

"That's okay, Mrs. Stephens," Ian said, sitting down because it was far easier to sit down than to shrug her off. "You don't have-"

"Nonsense. There's plenty, and it's the least we can do, since you're so willing to be up early on a Saturday just to come get Andrew."

"That _is_ really nice of you, Ian," Anna said, smiling.

Ian scowled. It wasn't _nice_ of him. It was… well, it _wasn't_ nice. Because this was really the last place he wanted to be just then. Teal'c was going to owe him so big time for this. He was going to-

"Here's a plate, Ian."

A plate, a napkin wrapped fork and knife, and a glass were all placed in front of him before he could deny the need for any of them again, and Micah reached over and pulled the pitcher of juice closer while Anna pushed the plate of pancakes towards him.

Well, _shit_.

"Thank you."


	5. 05

_Author's Note: Nope, Anna's not one of the twins. The twins were Andrew's aunts. This is his sister – who in Snowbunnies was 16 and had a thing for Daniel. Micah was in Snowbunnies, too._

OOOOOOO

Under the best of circumstances, Ian was what could only be called a hearty eater. He was more than capable of polishing off enough food in one sitting to sufficiently feed two or three people, and had proven it on more than one occasion – although he rarely had the opportunity to gorge himself all that often and never did it with fast food, which was his main fare now that he was more or less living on his own.

The breakfast Miyra Stephens put in front of him was home-cooked and the first pancakes he'd had in forever, and had it been normal circumstances, he'd have shown her just how healthy his appetite was. But he was in an unfamiliar house, surrounded by unfamiliar people, with a little kid who kept badgering him with questions and a young woman who kept watching him – although she was trying to hide it. All in all, it didn't do a lot for his appetite, and Ian only managed to politely choke down a pancake and some of the sausages by the time Andrew finally made an appearance in the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, sitting beside Anna and helping himself to a couple of pancakes when he saw that Ian was eating as well. "I was up late last night and slept through my alarm."

Since Ian had a fair idea that Andrew was up late the night before working on lessons with Thor, he was hardly going to berate him for it – although he really did wish that the guy had been sitting on the porch waiting for him.

"No problem."

"What are you two going to do today?" Miyra asked curiously as she refilled Ian's glass with juice without asking him, and then did the same for Andrew's.

Since Ian really didn't have a clue – all Teal'c had asked was that he spend some time with Andrew that morning – he shrugged.

"Maybe go for a drive or something."

"Ian has a convertible," Andrew said, rolling a pancake around a couple of sausages and dipping it in syrup before taking a huge bite.

"_Nice_," Anna said, approvingly.

The cadet shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, although that convertible was about the coolest thing he'd ever owned in his life.

"Why don't you take Ian up and show him the lodge?" Miyra asked, sitting down and joining them now that everyone had a full plate in front of them. "Micah, stop doing that," she chided, taking the syrup away from the seven year old who had been dripping it onto Shadow's nose when he thought his aunt hadn't been watching.

Andrew looked over at Ian, clearly asking him if he was interested, and Ian shrugged his acceptance. He'd heard about the lodge that Andrew's grandmother owned. It was as good a destination as any – as long as Andrew didn't expect him to try skiing or something.

"We could do that," Andrew said, nodding.

"No _skiing_, though," his mother said, waving her fork at him. "Shelby's not there, and I don't want you guys getting in trouble."

"We won't." Andrew promised.

"You want me to go with them and keep an eye on them?" Anna offered.

Ian scowled. He was _twenty_, for shit's sake, and certainly didn't need a babysitter. Not to mention he had absolutely no intention of taking some strange girl anywhere – especially the way she was looking at him.

Miyra shook her head, though, before Ian could say anything.

"They don't need a babysitter, Anna."

Besides, it would have shot down any chance of getting her son to talk about whatever it was that was bothering him if Anna had been there as well. Probably Andrew would have decided to not go at all.

"Besides," Andrew said. "Ian doesn't need you _staring_ at him all day."

"_Andrew_!"

Miyra reached over with her free hand and made a half-hearted swipe at him, unable to keep the amusement out of her expression, but also unable to let such rudeness pass.

Anna blushed, and tossed her sausage at him, although she missed and Shadow ended up being the recipient of the flung meat.

"I wasn't _staring_ at him, you little geek. I was-"

"Don't call your brother a geek."

"Well he _is_," Anna said, petulantly, still blushing hotly.

Ian scowled again, and drank down his juice.

"The lodge sounds fine, Andrew," he said, giving Miyra a questioning look.

"Just don't ski," she told him, smiling.

He shrugged. The last thing he wanted to do was go skiing – or _one_ of the last things, anyways.

"I don't ski, so that's not a problem."

Miyra smiled.

"We'll have to take you up some time – probably next year, though, unless we get another good snowfall this winter. Andrew could teach you – he's a fine skier."

Unwilling to commit himself to going anywhere that would require him to tie boards to his feet and cruise down a mountain out of control, Ian just shrugged again.

"Come on, Ian," Andrew said, stuffing the last of his breakfast in his mouth and standing up, taking his plate and glass with him. "We'd better get going if we're going to go up there. It's a fairly long drive."

"No speeding," Miyra said, looking at Ian as he stood as well, picking up his own dishes, too. Andrew was already opening the dishwasher – evidence that even though his mom made them breakfast, they still had to clean up after themselves.

"No ma'am."

Ian wasn't going to speed. It was one thing to speed and risk his own neck if he crashed; it was another to risk someone else's son. He'd never do that.

"Can I come?" Micah asked, looking hopeful – as any seven year old would when faced with a chance to go on an adventure with bigger kids.

"No," Andrew said, although Ian could tell he was far gentler about saying no to Micah than he had been saying no to his sister. The young man wasn't completely heartless, after all. "We'll bring you back a surprise, though." Andrew added, before the little boy could become too disappointed and make a scene.

"Really?"

Ian shrugged, and nodded.

"Sure."

Why not? It was a small price to pay to not have to put up with him all day and not have to feel guilty for not bringing him.

Micah obviously would still have rather gone, but Miyra stepped in before he could decide to make a fuss.

"You can go next time – when Uncle David and I go up to close the upper rooms down for the spring."

Mollified, the boy nodded, and Miyra waved the other two out of the kitchen.

"Be good, Andrew."

Andrew rolled his eyes – but Ian noticed he didn't do it until he'd turned away from his mother.

"Yes, mom."

Miyra smiled – she wasn't fooled for a moment – and turned her attention to Ian.

"If he gives you any trouble, you have my permission to toss him off the mountain."

Ian snorted in amusement, giving her a smile of his own.

"Yes, ma'am."


	6. 06

"Sorry about that," Andrew said as the two of them walked out to Ian's car and got in. "My sister isn't usually quite so bad."

Ian shrugged.

"It's no big deal."

"We don't _have_ to go to the lodge if you don't want to," Andrew said, putting on his seatbelt. "We could go-"

"The lodge sounds fine," Ian interrupted, starting the car. The engine roared to life, and Ian put the car in gear. "Road trips are always good."

Especially ones that weren't really all that far. Except if he was taking Cassie. Then he wouldn't have minded a longer trip. He pulled into what little traffic there was on Andrew's street.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" Andrew asked, curiously, noticing that the car had a new stereo system in it and wondering if Sam had installed it or if Ian had after he'd been given the car.

"Rock," Ian answered. While he wasn't one to go for small talk – and he _wasn't_ – Ian knew he was going to have to make an effort to try to this time. "Old rock, really – like 80's and 70's. Billy Joel, shit like that. You?"

"I like that," Andrew replied. "Or country. But I get a lot of flak for liking country."

Ian shrugged.

"Better to listen to what you like than try to conform. People don't like it, you can always tell them to go to hell."

Andrew smiled; he wished he had the self-confidence Ian did, because it was obvious the guy didn't do what he didn't want to. Before he could say anything, though, Ian had pulled the car into a gas station.

"If we're going to go on an extended drive, we're going to need gas," he said, pulling up to a pump and opening his door. "I meant to get it last night, but I forgot." More like he'd spent the evening trying to figure out what the hell he was thinking letting Teal'c talk him into doing this – although really, so far, Andrew seemed like a normal enough kind of guy.

"Since it was my idea, I'll buy the gas," Andrew offered, getting out of the car as well.

Ian shook his head, smiling.

"Not a chance. You can buy lunch later if you want."

Andrew shrugged.

"Fair enough. You want a soda or anything?"

Ian nodded, and opened the gas cap of the convertible.

"I'll meet you inside once I fill up."

Andrew headed inside the small store, nodding a hello to the clerk behind the counter who greeted him with a good morning, and went back to talking with the girl that was standing at the counter paying for a cup of coffee. He walked around, not really hungry – he'd just had breakfast after all – but more than willing to find something to snack on. He wasn't sure whether Ian cared if anyone ate in his car or not – he didn't think he did, but better to be sure – so he wanted to wait and ask before he bought anything. Nothing worse than having a bag of chips or something and not being able to eat them.

A few minutes later (and Andrew was pretty sure the clerk had to be thinking he was going to steal something from his aimless wandering of the store) Ian walked in, glancing over at the clerk for a moment before heading over to Andrew.

"You're not getting anything?" He asked, surprised to see that Andrew didn't have anything in his hands. Not even the pop he'd mentioned.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want me eating in your car."

"I'm going to," Ian told him with a rare smile. Dumb kid! "Just remember; it's a convertible, so we're going to have some wild drafts going on once we hit the freeway. Which means don't get anything that will easily blow away – the only thing I'm going to stop to retrieve would be you if you fell out."

Andrew laughed.

"I'll try to avoid that."

Ian nodded, and headed for the cooler, grabbing a six-pack of Mountain Dew and a couple of Snicker's bars before heading to the counter. Andrew debated on chips, decided they'd blow away in the car, and opted for licorice and a six-pack of Pepsi.

"Are you guys together?" the clerk asked as Andrew joined Ian at the counter.

"We're just _friends_," Ian answered, his expression serious, but a gleam of humor in his dark eyes. He loved fucking with people when they gave him the chance. Even strangers. Especially strangers?

There was a slight pause while the clerk hesitated, and Andrew grinned, getting the joke immediately.

"I've got all the food and drinks," he said. "He's getting the gas."

OOOOOOO

"You _do_ know how to find this place?"

"Of course."

Ian opened a pop and started the car.

"I'm not going to be happy if we get lost…"

Andrew grinned.

"Trust me."

Uh huh.

Ian headed out of the gas station, and following Andrew's directions, he headed for the freeway, going west.

OOOOOOO

The corridors of the SGC were fairly empty that morning. They usually were on a Saturday – especially one when it was a true weekend. Meaning there were no SG teams offworld for everyone to worry about. Which didn't mean the place was deserted, because there was always a chance that something might happen and some unknown or unauthorized gate activity might occur. There were several armed guards in the place – it was just that most of them were stationed around the gate room, and Teal'c was nowhere near that level of the base.

The Jaffa didn't mind so much that he lived on a secure base – it kept him from being forced to deal with a lot of the stares he received when he was out in public. He knew that even though he'd been on Earth for several years, he just didn't seem to fit in when he was with others. Sam had told him it was only because he was so big, but Teal'c knew there was more to it than that. Daniel had told him that he just seemed to be a bit… uptight… but Teal'c didn't know how to act less… uptight… and so couldn't do anything about it. It had gotten a little better, though. He had Jack (the dog) – who was cheerful enough for the both of them – and he had Andrew, who never seemed to mind that they drew odd looks when they were out in public together. The two hardly made a normal pairing, after all. Teal'c huge, dark and imposing, and Andrew skinny and slight and so obviously not related to him. Of course, no one ever did more than do a double-take, since Teal'c _was_ so imposing, but it was still nice that he didn't have to deal with that all the time.

He rounded the final turn on the way out to the main corridor leading outside, and almost crashed into Daniel Jackson, who had been walking and reading a report. Only Teal'c's quick reflexes kept Daniel from being knocked to the floor, and Daniel looked truly surprised to see him there.

"Teal'c."

"Good morning, Daniel Jackson."

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"I know."

There was a pause while Daniel waited for Teal'c to say something else, but he didn't. Finally Daniel spoke again.

"I thought you were… going to hang out with Andrew this weekend?"

"I was," Teal'c agreed. "I am."

Daniel looked around, but all he saw was Jack, who was wagging his tail cheerfully, smelling Daniel's leg – which smelled suspiciously like Binky.

"Is he hiding?"

"He is with Ian Brooks."

"Oh." Daniel paused again, but Teal'c didn't elaborate. "Did Ian kidnap him?"

"He is attempting to 'bond' with Andrew with the hope that Andrew will tell him what is bothering him."

"And Ian agreed to that?"

That didn't really sound like something Ian would do. Not that he wasn't a nice guy… but… well… Ian wasn't really all that _nice_ a guy. Not to people he didn't know, anyways. Daniel knew that. Heck, _everyone_ knew that.

"He is doing it as a favor to me."

"Oh. Well… that ought to be… um… _interesting_."

Teal'c gave one of his ultra rare smiles.

"Indeed."


	7. 07

As much as he loved driving with the top down on his car, Ian was forced to pull over to the side of the road and put it up not too long after they'd hit the freeway. That was the problem with the mountains, he decided grumpily as he pressed the button that brought the roof up and over them. They were too fucking cold in the winter time – even when it was great in town it still seemed to be freezing in the highest elevations.

"Least I won't have to worry about you stopping to pick me up off the freeway," Andrew said, conversation easier now that there were no winds blowing their words back in their faces.

Ian smiled, shaking his head. The guy had a good sense of humor.

"That's a relief. I'm not sure what your mother would have said if I'd lost you and hadn't noticed."

Andrew's answering grin was amused. It was nice to have someone to BS with like this. Like he used to with Shawn before he went off to the academy – although the two of them hadn't actually gone to the same school before that or anything. But now he didn't even see Adams on the weekends, because Shawn couldn't always get away. Only when they were doing joint lessons - and that wasn't a good time for small talk.

Since they could converse, now, without shouting, Andrew decided it was definitely time to learn about Ian. _He_ was taking him up to the lodge, after all.

"So… Shawn told me you're from New York…?"

It was as good a way to start as any, right?

Ian shook his head, glancing over at him for a moment. He knew Andrew was making the first move to get to know him, and he appreciated it, because he wasn't good at this kind of thing at all.

"I'm from New Jersey. But everyone calls it New York, and it's not worth the effort of correcting them."

"What's it like?"

Normally Ian would have said something negative… it's dirty or noisy, something like that, because he knew that would have ended the conversation fairly quickly. Since the whole idea was for him to actually talk to Andrew, he answered with a little more description.

"It's not bad. Green and beautiful in the spring, hot in the summer and pretty nice in the fall when the leaves change colors." He hesitated, and then, in an action that would have had everyone who knew him fall over with shock, he asked his own question, continuing a small talk conversation. "Are you from here, originally?"

Andrew nodded, taking a drink of his Pepsi.

"Born and bred. My grandparents moved out here from the east coast when they got married, and built the lodge. My dad grew up there, but when he got out of the military, he moved to town and met my mom and now, of course, we live in town…"

"Your dad's military?"

Ian hadn't met Andrew's father – he hadn't been home that morning (golfing) otherwise he probably would have noticed for himself.

Andrew nodded.

"He's a Captain in the National Guard, now, but he was in the Marines after college." The teenager hesitated, and then sighed. "I think I disappoint him sometimes, because I'm not all that big – and probably not going to get anywhere near as big as he is."

To Andrew's surprise, Ian snorted.

"You're not big, now, maybe," Ian said, shrugging. "But you never know… you're only, what? Sixteen?"

Andrew nodded.

"My birthday was in January."

"See? You have a lot of growing time, left. Besides, who cares if you don't get so big? Your dad probably doesn't. You should see my old man. He's about 4 inches taller than me and built like a tank. And he doesn't care that I'm thin and shorter."

Andrew looked over at Ian, surprised by the vehemence in his tone – as if this was definitely something he could relate to. Before he could say anything, though, Ian continued.

"You never really know what parents are thinking – especially dads," Ian told him, although it almost seemed like he was talking to himself. "I've always thought my dad pretty much didn't even know or care I was around, until this last year…" he shrugged, staring at the road in front of him, although his expression was a little distracted. "Then I found out he does know, and he definitely cares…"

Andrew was quiet for a moment.

"He's retired Military, too, right?"

"Air Force," Ian confirmed. "And good friends with Jack – although I didn't know it until…"

"Kinsey had you kidnapped with Shawn," Andrew finished.

Ian looked over at him, surprised, and Andrew flushed, wondering if he'd stepped over an invisible line he hadn't known abut.

"Thor told me about it," he explained. "I'm sorry if I brought up something that you don't want to discuss. I-"

Ian shook his head.

"Nah, I don't mind talking about it. I was just surprised you knew about it, that's all."

Although as he thought about it, it shouldn't have surprised him at all. Thor was probably some kind of serious gossip – although Ian hadn't spent any time with the Asgard to find out for himself.

"What's Thor like?" Ian asked, curiously. "I've only met him that one night."

Andrew shrugged.

"He's a lot smarter than anyone I know. Except maybe Sam. She might be smarter than him, because she's doing so many things without having the technology at her control that Thor has. He's teaching me a lot, though."

"Shawn told me that Thor has a reason for teaching you guys what he's teaching you. Have you figured it out?"

Andrew shook his head.

"Shawn and I were talking about it a while ago, and we've decided it has to be something genetic… at least _we_ think so. Everything the Asgard have taught us has to do with biological sciences – as opposed to engines and drives and that kind of technology. We're learning math – but only to keep us up with the science, I think." He looked at Ian apologetically. "Doesn't tell you much, does it?"

It was Ian's turn to shrug. It actually told him a lot more than Andrew thought, because Ian knew something that no one else did. Not Shawn, or Andrew – and definitely not Jack – although he knew that Sam might have an inkling about what was going on. Or she might think she did, anyways. But Sam was busy with a million other things that were more important to her than the Asgard (and rightfully so) so she didn't have time to think things through – or she might have figured it out.

The Asgard had fucked up way back when, and had assumed – arrogantly – that by the time it became a serious problem they'd already have a solution. Only they didn't. And they had become so narrow minded as thinkers and scientist over the millennias that they weren't really capable of solving their genetic problems anymore. Which was why they were using younger minds that had no idea of what was possible and what wasn't, and were teaching them and raising them up to be the thinkers they couldn't be.

Of course, Ian knew that the solution was under Thor's nose the entire time. The Ancients had come up with a possible solution long before the Asgard had started considering things, and Shawn was the result of that. But he didn't say anything, because there was every possibility that if the Asgard knew there was every possibility that the Asgard might actually try to abduct young Adams, to keep him from being injured, or to use him without his consent to solve their problem.

Not Thor, probably – who was a pretty good guy from what Ian had heard from Jack and Shawn both – but there were assholes in every species. The humans didn't have a lock on that. Ian wasn't about to tell Thor – or anyone else – about Shawn, because he wasn't going to risk him, but he was definitely interested in finding out more about the Asgard from a different point of view than the little he remembered so far from the Ancient download.

"So they're teaching you to be geneticists…" he said, to lure Andrew into furthering the conversation.

Andrew shrugged.

"I think so. More importantly, Shawn thinks so, too."

"Tell me what they're teaching you," Ian asked.

"It's complicated…"

Ian smiled.

"Try me."

Pretty much desperate for someone to talk to about things, Andrew was more than willing to do just that – even if Ian _didn't_ understand it, _Andrew_ did, and well enough that he could explain it to him. It wasn't like they didn't have all day, after all.

"Well… the first thing he started us on…"

And the conversation continued, the convertible threading its way deeper into the mountains, and the conversation inside nothing that 99 percent of the population on Earth would have understood. Certainly not the typical Saturday morning drive fare, at least.


	8. 08

Ian wasn't used to driving in the mountains. Not that he'd ever _admit_ _that_, but where he'd learned to drive it was flat and fairly level and while there were occasionally icy roads and snowy conditions, there certainly weren't hundred foot drops on either side of the road if you somehow lost control of the car and slid off the road. While he and Andrew had been discussing the lessons Thor had been giving the teenager and Shawn, the road had steadily risen into higher elevations, and the weather changed accordingly. It was now pretty cold outside, and there was snow piled on either side of the interstate. No problem there, since the last snowstorm had been a good week before and the roads had long since been plowed, but Ian wondered if he should have gone to Jack and mooched his truck for the drive – especially once they turned off the main highway onto the little road that led up to the Stephen's lodge.

This road was much smaller, and while it, too, had been plowed, it hadn't been plowed completely down to the bare pavement, and the snow that had been left had been packed down hard by what few passing cars and trucks there had been. The packed snow was slick, and the all season high performance tires that were on his sports car didn't find a lot of traction.

Ian didn't worry, though, really. There weren't any other cars or anything on the road, and he could stay right in the middle instead of staying to the right, and Andrew told him there wasn't a center line anyways – not that they could see anything.

"We could go back…" Andrew told him, feeling the tires slipping when Ian went around a bend in the road. They hadn't swerved or anything, and the action was subtle, but Andrew knew what slipping tires felt like.

"Nah, we're okay," Ian said, shrugging. He'd never admit to not being able to do something, and turning around was the same as giving up. Which wasn't going to happen.

"It's only a few more miles."

Ian nodded, and put the car into a lower gear as they started down a slight hill. Better that than ride the brakes, he knew.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Wow."

Andrew smiled proudly as the two of them pulled up to the empty parking lot in front of the lodge. It was an impressive building and he knew it, and even though he hadn't had anything to do with the building of it, he wasn't above being proud that his family owned it.

"Come on. I'll show you around."

They got out of the car, and Ian shivered. It was pretty freaking cold. Andrew did, too, rubbing his arms and then reaching into his pocket for a set of keys he'd grabbed from a hook back at the house before they'd left.

"Normally my grandmothers live here with my aunt and uncle, but they're all gone for the month to visit my other uncles who live in Florida."

"Micah's folks?" Ian asked as they headed for the large porch that wrapped around most of the building.

"Yeah. He's staying with us so he doesn't miss school."

"Makes sense."

Andrew shrugged, and unlocked the door, holding it open for Ian to precede him in.

"I wish I could miss school sometimes…" he admitted, closing the door behind him.

The lodge was echoingly empty, and pretty chilled inside, but there was electricity and heat, so Andrew simply went over and turned the thermostat up. It'd take a few hours to heat the place up, but when they were done with the tour they could always sit in front of the heater vents to stay warm.

"I know how you feel," Ian told him, looking around with interest. The place was just as awesome inside as it was out. "I was so bored in high school that I sometimes had to force myself to stay in my seat and not tell the teachers where to shove their standardized curriculum."

Andrew smiled.

"It's better at the Academy, though, right?"

"It's better," Ian said. "Because everyone there is _supposed_ to be smart – otherwise they don't get in. So the classes are more challenging and advanced. And the instructors let you move on ahead of the class if you're ready to."

"Shawn says you're at the top of your class – even though you're not even in the classes right now."

It was more of a question.

Ian shrugged.

"They're still challenging, but I have an advantage that none of the others do," he said. "I have the smartest woman in the world acting as my tutor when I have a problem."

"Sam?"

Ian nodded, smiling.

"She's a fucking genius, you know…"

"Yeah."

He _didn't_ know, Ian knew. But he would figure it out eventually.

Andrew sighed, opening a closet and pulling out a couple of jackets for them to use. The good thing about the lodge was that there were always extra coats and other cold weather gear around.

"I wish I would have gone into the academy when Shawn did," he admitted – for the first time telling someone besides himself.

"Why didn't you?" Ian asked, pulling on the jacket and reaching for a stocking cap as well. His ears were going to fall off any minute, he was sure.

Andrew shrugged. He wasn't going to admit to being afraid.

"I guess I didn't think I was ready…"

"Are you?"

"I don't know. But I hate where I am. It's boring and if it wasn't for the lessons with Thor, I'd probably just go nuts."

Ian nodded.

"You're going to go next year?"

"Yeah."

"What do your friends think about that?"

Andrew snorted.

"I don't have many friends. Shawn and a few guys that I go to camp with every year, but they go to different schools and I can't transfer because of district zoning. The kids I go to school with are more than willing to talk to me when they want an answer to a problem, but other than that…" he shrugged, trailing off. Ian probably didn't understand that. He'd probably had a ton of friends when he'd been in school.

"Come on," he said, before Ian could say anything. "I'll show you around. I'll even show you where Jaffer was born."

Ian nodded, and the two of them headed for the huge staircase that dominated the front hall. Boy, he sure had a lot more in common with Andrew than he'd ever have guessed.


	9. 09

_Author's Note: Since there's a pretty fair description of the lodge in Snowbunnies, I'm not going to bother going into too much detail on the tour that Andrew is giving Ian, just so you all know. Sorry about the wait on this, too, I think I'm trying to catch a cold or something cause I've been dragging all week._

OOOOOOOOO

The upstairs of the lodge was reserved mostly for bedrooms, and Ian had a peek into each of them – once he'd been assured that none of the rooms upstairs were living quarters for any of the people in Andrew's family.

"Everyone lives downstairs," Andrew told him, showing him the room that Jaffer had been born in. On the wall of this room was a large photo of Jack stretched out on the bed wearing a pair of sweats, lying next to a lab Ian assumed was Shadow who had a litter of buff colored puppies at her side. Among the yellow puppies were two black ones, and Ian smiled, wondering which one was Jaffer.

"Grandma put that there," Andrew said. "She sent Jack a copy of it – it's on his Wall."

Ian nodded. He'd seen it there, but the one hanging on Jack's Wall was much smaller, and there wasn't so much detail as there was in this one. You could even see the arrowhead necklace that was one of Jack's most prized possessions – although he never wore it anymore since it was getting worn and he was always afraid of losing it.

"That's awesome."

Andrew nodded.

He gave Ian a few more minutes to look at the picture, and then led him out the door and back downstairs, where he showed him all the other rooms, including the supply room that held all the skiing, inner tubing and sledding equipment. There were enough extra jackets and hats and gloves here in this room to supply Ian's entire platoon at the academy, he decided.

"If you were a good skier, we'd take a couple passes down the mountain," Andrew said, eyeing the skis and poles wistfully. It was obvious he wanted to ski, but Ian had no intention of breaking their promise to Andrew's mom. Besides, he wasn't stupid, and he had a very good imagination. He was well aware that there was every chance he'd break every bone in his body if he crashed into a tree going out of control 40 miles an hour down a mountain.

"I'm not," he replied, shaking his head. "And there's no way in hell we're going to risk it. Especially after your mom made sure to remind you she didn't want you skiing."

Andrew made a face, but he didn't argue. It had just been a thought, anyways, and he knew Ian didn't ski – so he really knew better than to even mention it. He'd just been hoping Ian might have said something like 'oh, I forgot to mention, I'm a great skier', or something like that. A slim hope.

He shrugged.

"Come on, I'll show you around the outside."

They walked out into the bright sunshine – although it was already nearly 3PM and Andrew knew they weren't going to want to stick around much longer if they didn't want to drive home in the dark. Despite the fact that the days were getting longer, it still got dark fairly early in the mountains, and the lodge was no exception. Of course, there wasn't all that much to see outside, really. Unless you were a tree and snow lover, because that was pretty much all there was just then.

"This is the ski area," Andrew said, taking Ian out to the cleared area that ran about 80 feet wide and more than halfway up the mountain – although part of it was rocky enough that Ian was sure no one actually skied that far up.

"This is where that avalanche caught you?" Ian asked with interest, looking at the towrope that was designed to keep people from being forced to hike up the mountain in order to ski down it.

Andrew nodded, gesturing further down the slope.

"It caught us here somewhere, but we ended up way down the slope. We should have all been killed…"

Ian had heard the story from Jack – who understandably didn't remember all that much of it, since he'd been badly injured and had ended up delirious with a head injury and the pain of the others all coming to bear on him.

"Sounds like it…"

Andrew nodded again, and just as he was about to say something else there was a loud booming noise that echoed through out the mountains around them. A moment later there was a loud rumbling.

Andrew blanched, looking around, startled.

"What was that?" Ian asked, feeling just a little nervous as well – especially with all the talk of avalanches.

"They must be doing avalanche control," Andrew said, feeling stupid for flinching, although Ian didn't look like he was about to make fun of him for it.

"Avalanche control?"

Andrew nodded.

"When the snow starts to melt the DOT – department of transportation – comes out into the mountains and sets off a series of avalanches – to keep there from being a big one."

Ian frowned. Avalanche control wasn't something he'd ever heard of, and it sounded like a crock of shit.

"They set off _avalanches_?"

Andrew grinned.

"It's better to have the little ones come down where you want it to and ease all the pressure on the snow pack than to have a huge one come crashing down out of nowhere and maybe kill someone."

Huh. Yeah, okay… that was a good point.

"That makes sense."

"Yeah." Andrew looked up at the mountains around them, though, still feeling a little nervous out in the open like he was. He always would, he knew. Especially with that rumbling going on so close by – even though he knew they weren't coming from above them where it would be a danger.

"We should probably head back, Ian," he said, finally. "It's going to be dark pretty soon and I-"

"I don't want to drive in the dark if I can avoid it," Ian said, accepting that reason for leaving, although he was pretty sure there was more to it than that. Not that he could blame Andrew for being a bit gunshy as far as avalanches were concerned. He'd never been in one, so he didn't know how bad it was – but Andrew had every right to want to go. "Let's get going."

They went back inside and Andrew turned the heat back down, but told Ian to just hang on to the jacket he was wearing until they made it back to town. No sense freezing on the way home, after all. Ian nodded, and stood on the porch while Andrew locked the front door of the lodge, and then the two of them headed for the car.

"We still have a few hours of light, right?" Ian asked as he started it up. Not that he didn't want to drive in the dark, but he didn't want to drive on the shitty little barely plowed road that led to the lodge in the dark. The interstate was fine; it wasn't slick. The little road was slicker than snot, and he'd just as soon navigate it in the light.

Andrew nodded.

"Good."

He turned the car towards the road, and they headed out.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Well… shit."

Less than three miles down the road, Ian and Andrew found that things had definitely changed since they'd come up to the lodge. The main thing being that where there had once been a slight turn in the road, there was now a huge wall of snow.

"Son of a bitch…"

Ian looked over at Andrew. It was actually the first time he'd heard him swear, but he did it fairly well. Of course, he'd probably spent time with Jack, and Jack was pretty good at it when he wanted to be.

"Avalanche control?" He asked, wondering what the fuck they were going to do.

"They don't normally block the roads without sending a letter warning the people on the road that they're going to do it," Andrew said, annoyed. "But they're good enough at setting them off that they know where they're going to go…"

"Tell me we don't have to wait for spring for them to clear the road…"

Andrew shook his head.

"They'll clear it soon… but not soon enough…"

"Meaning…?"

"We'd better get back to the lodge and call my mom."

Great.


	10. 10

"You know…"

"Yes?"

"You're a _genius_, right?"

"So I've been told."

"Invented countless amazing, mind-boggling doohickeys, saved millions of lives with your brilliant suggestions and ideas…"

Sam smiled.

"Yeah…"

"So tell me, genius woman…" Jack said, looking up from what he was doing. "Why haven't you invented some easy, clean and far less stinky way to change Mr. Poopy Britches, yet?"

"And spoil your fun?"

Jack gave her a look that did nothing but make Sam smile, and she handed him a new diaper, taking the very stinky and messy one he'd just stripped off their son. Jake wriggled a little, but Jack simply put his hand on the infant's belly, easily containing that portion and knowing if he had that part under control the rest of the baby wasn't going anywhere.

"Just think of it as your chance to bond with him," Sam said, rolling up the soiled diaper and tossing it in the diaper holder thing in the corner, then watching as Jack deftly put the clean diaper on the squirming baby one-handed. He was definitely better at it than Sam was – although she had plenty of practice as well.

Jack snorted, and picked up Jack, cradling him against his chest. The baby was still a month from his due date, but he'd grown considerably since he'd been born and was catching up to the normal size of babies his age. Still tiny and fragile, but nowhere near as tiny as he'd been, and still holding a clean bill of health from all his doctors.

"We'll bond at ball games and playing catch," Jack told her, running his free hand along the diaper to make sure it was snug but not pinching. "You find me a machine to change him."

She smiled, and went over and sat on the sofa, running her hand along Jaffer's silky shoulder. The lab rolled over, more than willing to get some attention, and showing her where he wanted scratched. Sam complied, rubbing his belly while Jack came over and settled beside her, Jake already starting to fall asleep now that his wet diaper problem had been solved.

"I-"

The phone rang, interrupting what Sam was going to say, and Jack reached out for it since he was closer. God forbid anyone stop rubbing Jaffer's belly once they got started, after all.

"Hello?"

"Jack, it's Ian."

He smiled, looking over at Sam.

"Ian. I was just thinking of you."

"Yeah? Let me guess… you had to change Jake?"

The New Yorker's drawl was amused.

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"Ask him if he wants to come to dinner," Sam said.

"Sam wants to know if you want to come to dinner?"

Ian made a noise Jack couldn't quite decipher.

"Well, I'd love to Jack… only I'm stuck up in the mountains behind a solid wall of snow with no way out until the DOT cleans the shit off the road tomorrow morning."

"What?"

"Andrew Stephens and I came up to his grandparents' lodge to check it out, and apparently the DOT sent a note saying they were going to do avalanche control in the mail – which they never received – and they blocked the fucking road with a shitload of snow that they're not going to clear out until tomorrow."

"Are you guys alright?"

Sam's eyes grew concerned. She, of course, could only hear Jack's side of the conversation. He smiled, though, to reassure her that what was going on wasn't serious, and her concern faded just a little.

"Yeah, we're fine. There's electricity and Andrew says there's plenty of food, but we're going to be up here until at least tomorrow afternoon. He already called his mom, but I need you to call and let Teal'c know, because we were supposed to meet him this evening and-"

"Andrew's with you?"

"Yeah."

"Why not have him call up Thor and beam you guys back to the SGC – or even here if you need to?"

"I'm not leaving my car up here."

Jack smiled. Of course he wasn't.

"You need anything?"

"I'd say a helicopter," Ian said. "But apparently you can't use a helicopter in the mountains when they're already worried about avalanches – unless it's an emergency, which this isn't."

Besides, Ian didn't have any desire to fly. Not even in a helicopter.

"We could have them drop you in some Big Macs," Jack said, grinning. He'd do no such thing, of course, but the situation was far more amusing than it was dangerous – especially if they had power. The lodge was hardly a decrepit building, after all, and was really very luxurious. It wouldn't kill Ian to be stuck there for a day.

Ian snorted.

"Just call Teal'c for me, okay?"

"Okay."

"And see if Daniel will go feed the fish in the morning."

"Okay."

"Thanks."

"You'll be out of there tomorrow?"

"If I have to hook Andrew up to a harness and mush out," Ian said, his voice amused enough that Jack knew Andrew had to be in the room with him and listening in on his half of the conversation.

"Call me if you run into any problems," Jack ordered. "And let me know when you're on your way back."

"Okay."

Ian hung up, and Jack put the phone back down on the base, then looked at Sam.

"What's up?" She asked.

"You'll never believe where Ian is…"

OOOOOOOO

"I'm really sorry about this…"

Ian hung the phone back onto the wall mount and looked over at Andrew. He shrugged.

"No need to be. It's not your fault."

"It was my idea, though."

"Yeah, but it was a good idea. Just bad timing."

"I didn't know about the-"

Ian held up his hand to stop Andrew. He wasn't really all that pissed off about being stuck – although if he'd been stuck up here with someone he didn't like it might have been another story completely.

"Don't worry about it. Just tell me you know how to cook…"

Andrew shrugged.

"We have canned stuff… how hard can it be?"


	11. 11

"How can a place this big not have a single can opener?"

Andrew looked up from rummaging through the only drawer of the kitchen that they hadn't yet checked.

"We _have_ a can opener," he said, defensively. "I _know_ they had an electric one on the counter – I just don't know where it is…"

Ian looked around. He didn't see a can opener – and he was pretty sure it wasn't something that could be easily missed. Of course, the kitchen was huge. Warm and friendly enough – and well-stocked with all sorts of time saving gadgets. All except for a can opener. They couldn't even find one of the hand-held ones that didn't rely on electricity, and Ian was pretty sure that his mother had at least two of the bastards in her kitchen.

"Maybe it's in the shop…"

Andrew looked over at him again, frowning.

"In the shop?"

Ian shrugged.

"Or maybe it broke and they threw it away, how the hell would I know…?"

Andrew shut the bottom drawer, knowing that a screwdriver set wasn't going to help them.

"I suppose we could use a knife…"

"Nah, that never works very well."

Ian knew; he'd tried it before.

They both turned towards the fridge.

"There's no way there'll be anything in there worth eating," Andrew said, although he opened it. "Not with everyone having gone away for so long…"

Sure enough, the fridge held only those things that wouldn't spoil after a prolonged absence; condiments like ketchup, mustard, relish and mayo – all the usual stuff. But nothing worth eating, and no can opener.

Ian reached up and opened the freezer, figuring they'd have food in there, and found a plethora of bags of frozen vegetables. Peas, carrots, peas _and_ carrots, stir fry, corn and even some frozen cabbages – which made the New Yorker shudder.

"Ugh."

"There's meat in the deep freeze," Andrew told him, heading out the far door into a room Ian hadn't been shown on the tour earlier. "I suppose we could thaw some out and cook it."

The cadet followed the younger guy into the room, and found a huge white freezer dominating one entire side of the little room. The other side was covered in shelves, which were well-stocked with food; cans of all sorts, from tuna to tomatoes and canned chicken to more corn. All of it without a can opener in sight.

Andrew opened the freezer, and Ian crossed the room to take a look as well. Sure enough, this freezer was filled with neatly labeled white-wrapped packages of all sorts of meat.

"My uncles use the lodge for hunting in the fall," Andrew explained. "So some of this is wild meat – venison mostly, from elk and deer – although there's also hamburger and steaks, and fish and God only knows what else."

Ian leaned down and pulled out a package, which was marked as venison, and decided from the heft that it had to be a roast.

"Venison?"

Andrew nodded.

"Sounds fine."

"I'll start thawing it, you find a pan to cook it in."

"Okay."

OOOOOOO

It wasn't as bad as it might have been. An oven is a fairly forgiving thing, and between the two of them, they managed to bake the roast without burning the place down – or even setting fire to anything. Of course, since there was no way a fire truck would be able to come rescue them, both of them were very careful not to leave anything where it might be in danger of going up in flames.

Besides the venison roast – which was more than a bit raw in the middle although the outsides were charred black – Ian had found a couple of boxes of macaroni and cheese in the cupboard and had managed to throw that together as well.

"It could have been worse…" Andrew said as he sawed off another chunk of cooked meat – both of them were avoiding eating the raw part, but it was a fair sized roast and they had plenty.

"We didn't get hurt," Ian agreed.

"And we didn't burn the place down."

Ian smiled, and leaned back, taking a sip of a Mountain Dew. It was a good thing they'd brought their own drinks, because all they'd found in the cupboards and fridge were diet shakes Andrew said his grandmothers drank when they didn't feel like making a meal and tea bags.

"Want to arm wrestle to see who does the dishes?"

Andrew snorted into his Pepsi.

"I don't think so."

OOOOOOOO

"Do you think they're starving?"

Jack smiled and shook his head, handing Jacob over to Sam so she could feed him while he went into the kitchen to make their own dinner. Jaffer joined him immediately, always eager to help clean up anything that might fall on the floor.

"They can always draw straws and see who gets to eat the other if things get bad…"

Sam grinned and cuddled Jake against her, watching as he began nursing and then turning so she could watch Jack busy himself at the stove.

"Or they could take Ian's Glock and go kill a bear or something."

It was no secret Ian kept his backup weapon in the locked glove box of his car.

"_Killing_ it would be easy," Jack said, looking over at her and smiling softly at the sight of the two of them together. It was something that never got old to him. "How would they cook it?"

"What I want to know is when did _Ian_ start hanging out with Andrew?" Sam asked. "Andrew's not really in Ian's age group, after all."

Jack had that answer, though. He'd talked to Teal'c while Sam had taken Jaffer outside for a quick potty break (Jack had been holding Jake, so he didn't have that duty).

"It's all Teal'c's idea, apparently," he told her. "Something's been bothering Andrew and Teal'c and Andrew's folks are hoping that having someone older who went through pretty much what Andrew's going through now will give him someone to talk to."

"What about Shawn?"

Jack smiled.

"Shawn's not a normal situation, Sam. He never _has_ been. If Ian wasn't handy, Teal'c would have come to you, next – even though you're a girl and God only knows if Andrew would have talked to you – we're not even sure he'll talk to Ian, after all. The problem – as Miyra sees it – is that Andrew's having trouble fitting in, and rightfully so, and because of that he doesn't have a lot of friends, and the ones he does have don't even go to the same school that he does. Ian was in high school in a similar situation – and while I never would have thought of it – Teal'c did, and asked him to hang out with Andrew for the day, just to see if he could get him to tell him what was going on inside that genius head of his."

"Well, they should have plenty of time to talk, now… Maybe Andrew will even learn something…"

Jack's grin was amused.

"If nothing else, he's probably learning a lot of new four letter words."


	12. 12

_Author's Note: Sorry about the wait on this everyone – I just can't seem to shake this cold, and can only drag myself out of bed for a while at a time – which doesn't make for good writing._

OOOOOOOOOOO

After the dishes were done (they shared the task) Ian and Andrew went into the living room. The lodge was well situated for visitors – except for the whole no can opener in sight thing – and there was an entire closet filled with games of all sorts. Chess, checkers, backgammon, cards, board games of every sort – and obviously some of them belonged to Micah because there was a large assortment of games for younger children, such as Candyland, and Cootie.

Predictably, Andrew grabbed the Trivial Pursuit game and pulled it out, while Ian pulled a coffee table over to put it in between two easy chairs.

"You don't want to play that," Ian told Andrew, seeing what game he'd chosen.

Andrew smiled.

"I know; you're a genius and you'll probably beat me… but a lot of it's luck, too… you have to get the questions about things you know about, after all…"

"Except that I've played it enough that I probably have 90 percent of the answers _memorized_," Ian said as he flopped down in one of the chairs. The room was warm, now, and it was quite comfortable to be in only jeans and a t-shirt, so they'd both removed their jackets long before.

"Bullshit."

Shawn had told Andrew that Ian had an incredible memory, but no one was _that_ good, Andrew knew it.

Ian shrugged.

"Try me."

Without setting up the board, Andrew pulled one of the boxes of cards out, pulling a stack of the questions out and sitting down in the other chair. He looked at the first card.

"This Russian novel-"

"_War and Peace_."

Andrew looked up.

"Lucky guess."

Ian just smirked.

"Give me another one."

For the next twenty minutes, Ian put on a performance that absolutely stunned Andrew. Not only did the cadet not miss a single question Andrew gave him, most of the time he didn't even need him to finish the question. Amazed, Andrew finally set the cards back in the box.

"That's incredible."

Ian shrugged. It wasn't something he normally showed off; it wasn't like he had all that much to do with just how good his memory was, after all – that was purely a genetics issue, he supposed. But he was young enough to enjoy showing off a little bit – when the situation warranted it – and Andrew _was_ an appreciative audience.

"How long have you been able to do stuff like that?"

"All my life," Ian answered. "I see or hear something, I remember it."

"Wow."

"Yeah, well, it's not that great," Ian told him. "It makes for good grades, but most of the time it's a regular pain in the ass."

And sometimes it was worse than that, because sometimes _not_ being able to forget was worse than anything – like Shawn had surmised earlier that year.

"You must have gotten great grades in school."

"Probably as good as yours."

"Without trying…"

"Nah… I still had to read the work – and remembering the information doesn't do me any good at all if I don't understand what I'm reading, so I actually had to _learn_ – I just don't need to use reference books as often as everyone else."

"It's still cool."

Ian shrugged again, ready to turn the subject away from his memory.

"Get the cards, Andrew," he said. "We'll play-"

The phone rang, interrupting, and Andrew and Ian both looked at each other. Andrew shrugged, standing up and heading to end table.

"It must be my mom…"

"She probably wants to remind you not to ski," Ian said, smiling.

Andrew grinned and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

There was a pause, and Ian could faintly hear a man's voice speaking – although he wasn't sure what was being said. He could only hear Andrew's side – and the conversation was short.

"Yeah."

Another pause, this one longer.

"Two of us."

Pause.

"Yeah, they know."

Pause, again, another long one.

"A convertible."

Andrew looked over at Ian as he said it, and Ian wondered who it was.

"That'll work, thanks."

The teenager hung up the phone and looked over at Ian, smiling.

"That was Fred Simms of the DOT, just confirming that their avalanche crews managed to strand a couple of people up at the lodge and making sure that we were okay – and would remain in good health until such time as they were able to clear the road. Although I think he was hoping that you were driving a truck…"

"I _would_ have," Ian said. "If I'd have known this was going to happen."

Andrew smiled again.

"He says they'll start clearing the road as soon as it's light out – and it should only take a couple hours."

"Good."

"Still want to play cards?"

"Unless you have a better idea?"

Andrew looked towards the kitchen.

"How about dessert?"

Ian shrugged, although he hadn't seen anything in there worth eating as far as sweets went. As far as he could tell, Andrew's family were all far too health conscious for his tastes.

"If you can find something…"

"I know just the thing. Let's go."

Standing up, Ian followed Andrew into the kitchen.


	13. 13

"_I'm_ not eating that…"

Andrew snorted, stirring the mixture in the bowl once more and giving Ian an exasperated look.

"Come on, it's good. Really."

"It's _snow_ mixed with canned milk, sugar and vanilla. How good can it be?"

"It's not _yellow_ snow."

"I'm not-"

"You've _never_ had snow ice cream?" Andrew asked – again. He'd asked it several times while a mystified Ian had followed him outside after he'd grabbed up two large bowls and had gathered large heaping amounts of clean snow. He'd asked it again as he'd used a knife to stab open a hole in a can of evaporated milk – which wasn't as good as the cream you were supposed to use, but would still work.

Ian scowled.

"Ice cream isn't made from _snow_, Andrew. It's made-"

"You can make it from snow if you're desperate enough for ice cream, Ian," Andrew said, taking a bite. It wasn't bad at all. "I learned it in the Boy Scouts."

"_I'm_ not that desperate."

"Come on…" Andrew told him, handing him the bowl he'd made for him. "Try something new for crying out loud."

"Try something _new_?" Ian gave him a derisive snort, ignoring the bowl. "Do you have any idea how many new things I've _been_ trying for the last year?"

Andrew had to concede that point, but he was still unwilling to give up.

"Just try it. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it."

Of course, he didn't _have_ to eat it, now, did he? Ian sighed, and reached for the bowl, taking a little nibble of the already melting concoction. It was sweet, and milky, and wasn't absolutely terrible – but Ian still wasn't going to eat it.

"Why don't your grandparents keep _real_ ice cream in their freezer?"

He shrugged.

"They probably didn't think it'd be good when they got back. You don't like it?"

"I didn't say that."

"You _do_ like it?"

Ian scowled.

"I didn't say that, either."

Andrew shook his head, giving up. He carried his bowl out of the kitchen and went over to sit at the large table where they'd had dinner. Ian followed him, after putting his own bowl in the sink.

"You're a Boy Scout?" He asked, coming over and sitting down as well.

Andrew shook his head.

"I _was_. But I didn't have any time for it, anymore, so I quit."

Which had probably been the last killer of any chance he'd ever had to make real friends in his school, since the guys hadn't understood why he'd quit and had been pretty pissed.

Ian nodded his understanding. Of course he didn't have any time – he was doing schoolwork by day and Asgard shit by night. Even Ian probably had more free time than Andrew did.

"Were you one?" Andrew asked, curiously.

Ian smiled, wryly.

"I was. For a week or so. Turned out I wasn't really Boy Scout material – and we all figured that out pretty quick."

"Why not?"

Ian shrugged.

"I'm not the most social guy in the world – in case you hadn't noticed. And I wasn't much better when I was a kid."

"But you get along pretty well with everyone, don't you?" Andrew asked, confused.

"I get along well with _some_ people," Ian corrected. "Most people – even the kids I went to school with – didn't really like me all that much. And I couldn't stand most of them."

"Really?"

Ian nodded, playing with the saltshaker. He wasn't really one to open up like this, but it wasn't really a secret that he was an asshole, and it was probably exactly what Andrew needed to hear, so he elaborated.

"Oh yeah. People drove me nuts when I was growing up – they still do, really. I'd rather have chopped my hand off than hang out with most of the retards I went to school with."

Andrew smiled, but didn't say anything, and Ian continued.

"Because I was smarter than them, they were always pestering me for help, usually with homework – and I suppose if I were less of a prick I would have helped them – but God, I hated them for bothering me. And I hated having them talk about me like I wasn't there – even when they were saying how smart I was. Like they thought I was deaf or something. Dumb bastards."

Andrew was staring at Ian, completely surprised by this revelation. It was almost exactly how he felt most of the time, after all. But he'd never have thought in a million years that Ian might have felt the same way.

Uncomfortable, Ian shrugged, looking at the bowl in front of Andrew.

"You'd better eat that shit before it melts," he told him, standing up. "I'm going to go to bed."

It was a bit earlier than he'd normally go, of course, but it was well past dark and he figured the sooner he went to bed the sooner morning would come and he could get back to Colorado Springs and get some breakfast – and maybe even a real bowl of ice cream.

Andrew smiled, and nodded.

"I'll see you in the morning."

"Yup."

OOOOOOOOOO

"So…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it occurred to Teal'c that if Andrew spends a lot of time around Ian there's every chance he's going to start talking like him?"

Jack smiled, looking at Sam as he pulled her gently closer so he could cuddle her.

"I don't think we need to worry."

She shrugged, tucking her head under his chin and listening to his heart beating in his chest while her hand slid under his shirt to caress his flat stomach.

"I don't know… he's at that impressionable age…"

Jack rolled just a little, so he could return the favor and caress her side tenderly, and he titled his head, kissing her temple.

"There are worse role models out there…"

Sam smiled; knowing that was pretty much the best compliment Ian was ever going to get and thinking it was too bad he hadn't even heard it.

"As long as you're not worried…" She said, her hand moving lower.

"I'm not."

If his voice was a little breathless all of the sudden, Sam understood, and her smile widened. They were both a little tired after a long day of taking care of their son and doing household things that had been put off too long, but she was certain he wouldn't mind staying awake a little while longer – especially now that Jake was asleep. His reaction proved her correct, and for a long time Ian and Andrew were the last thing either of them were thinking of.


	14. 14

They didn't actually take bedrooms in the lodge. They could have – there were plenty to choose from – but there were also several very comfortable couches in both the living room and the rec room on the lower level of the lodge, and these rooms were already somewhat warm and comfortable. It was simply a matter of choosing which sofas they wanted to use and grabbing a couple of blankets out of the closet.

When Andrew finished his ice cream, he found Ian had sacked out on one of the ones in the living room, and decided that he'd just stick to that room as well. The living room was warmer than the rest of the rooms – except the kitchen, because they'd cooked there – and besides, he'd slept plenty of times in that big old green sofa and it was almost like an old friend itself.

He gathered up a comforter from the closet, took off his shoes, wrapped up in the blanket and went to sleep.

OOOOOOOO

In the absolute silence that only comes from being up in the mountains on a cold winter night, Ian woke, hearing an odd noise that was coming from outside. The inside of the lodge was as dark and still as the outside. Andrew had turned off all the lights, and the TV hadn't even been turned on, so there was nothing to muffle the noises coming from outside.

The cadet sat up, his head turning towards the window that faced the front of the ledge – and the parking area. There was a little bit of light coming through that window – the moon wasn't full but it seemed to be extraordinarily bright – but he couldn't see what was making the odd noise because the window itself was lightly fogged and the fog had frozen in the cold. (Not something that normally happened, except that the temperature was still a little less than ideal in the lodge and had dropped considerably outside during the night.)

Ian looked at his watch, saw that it was way too early to be up and started to lay back down again, when he heard the same noise that had woken him in the first place. He sat up again, this time actually coming to his feet. Weird noises in the middle of the night were one thing. Weird noises in the middle of the night in an almost abandoned lodge were quite another story.

Looking over to make sure he wasn't just hearing Andrew, Ian saw that there was a blanket wrapped form sprawled on the couch across from his, from which soft snores were escaping occasionally. Frowning, because he heard the noise again, and it almost sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard, Ian headed for the entranceway, and opened the door.

"Yeesh…"

It was freezing outside. He turned his head, looking for the coat he'd been wearing earlier only to realize that he'd taken it off outside the door that led to the kitchen – after Andrew had taken him out to collect snow for his ice cream. There was another scraping noise, and shivering already, Ian stepped outside onto the porch.

Barefooted and without a jacket – and knowing that his mom would kill him if she saw him like that – Ian walked across the porch and leaned over the rail, his ears telling him where the sound was coming from, even though he couldn't really see all that much. But then, looking towards the parking area, he saw way more than he wanted to.

Two small somethings were crawling around his car, making odd noises that sounded playful as one of them jumped up onto the hood. Ian heard that chalkboard and fingers sound again, and realized it was the creatures' claws damaging his paint job.

"Hey! Knock that shit off!"

He started down the steps, ignoring the cold of the deep snow as he cut across the empty space from the porch to the parking lot at a jog.

Both creatures turned to look at him, and as he got closer, Ian realized they were bears. Little bears. Little bears with _big_ fucking claws, because he could see the scratches on his hood in the moonlight now that he was closer.

"Get _off_ there, you little fucks!"

Surprised by his approach, the bear cubs froze, trying to see if there was danger. One of them was leaning against the windshield of the convertible and the other was on the very front of the hood, almost on the edge. This one squealed when Ian came closer, and ran back to join its sibling at the windshield, its claws gouging the paint on the hood.

Furious at the rough treatment, Ian didn't even see the danger until he was well into it. A much larger form emerged from the dark shadows beside the house, lumbering towards him and bowling him over as she crashed into him. Ian rolled in the deep snow he'd fallen into, something heavy and furry looming over him for just a moment before it took a swipe at him, missing only because she was just as furious as he'd been a moment before.

Foundering in the deep snow, Ian lurched to his feet, only to fall backwards when the female bear pressed her attack, a roar echoing around them as she took another swipe at him with claws that were impossibly long.

Ian threw himself backwards, knowing that he was fucked, because there was no way he was going to be able to move out of the way of the next attack, even as he felt the claws snag on his t-shirt, ripping it – although they only grazed against his skin, luckily. She lashed out again with the other paw, impossibly fast, and his hand came up to protect himself, only to be slashed open.

With a yelp of pain, and grabbing the only thing he could find – a handful of snow – Ian shouted and threw it at the bear, hitting her square in the face. The bear hesitated, but only for a moment. Obviously the snow hadn't hurt her and the scrambling they'd done had put Ian once more between her and the cubs – who had jumped off the car and were hurtling towards the safety of the trees as fast as they could, screaming in fear as their mother protected them from the crazy whatever it was that had attacked them while they played. The bear rose up on her hind legs, roaring as she took a better look at her foe, but just as she was about to launch another attack, a shot rang out through the night, echoing through the area like a crack of a whip and startling the bear and Ian both.

As if she'd been hit by the bullet, the bar jerked backwards, stumbling over a snow bank and lumbering off towards the woods in a dead run after her cubs, and Ian stared as she went, breathing heavily and trying to keep his heart from bursting out of his chest.

"Are you all _right_?" Andrew asked, running over. He was barefoot as well, wearing nothing but jeans and t-shirt he'd fallen asleep in but carrying a rifle that Ian had noticed hanging above the door of the lodge. Ian _had_ thought it to be purely decorative, but it was obviously not.

"_Ian_?"

Andrew's voice was concerned, even though Ian was standing up, and the cadet was about as pale as he'd ever seen anyone looking.

"I'm okay…"

He looked down at himself to make sure, and saw that his shirt was ripped and his hand was bleeding. Aside from that, though… it could have been a lot worse.

"What were you _thinking_?" Andrew asked him, sounding mad. Actually, it was more reaction than anything else, but Ian didn't know the difference. "_Are you out of your mind?"_

Ian rubbed his chest, smearing his shirt with blood from his hand.

"Do you see what those little fuckers did to my _car_?"

"She could have killed you."

Ian scowled, still more focused on his car than his injured hand – which was throbbing.

"I didn't even see her until it was too late."

"You never – _ever_ – get between a bear and her cubs," Andrew told him, shifting the rifle from one hand to the other.

"I didn't _see_ her," Ian repeated. Jesus, did he look like Grizzly Adams? "Look at my car…"

It was scratched all to shit.

"Look at your _hand_."

Against the white of the snow and his t-shirt, the blood from his hand was startling red.

"You think they can buff those little ones out with a sand-"

"Jesus, Ian, who _cares_? You just about _died_!"

"_Sam_ gave me that car, you dumb bastard," Ian said, immediately going on the defensive – without even thinking about it. "It's the best thing anyone's ever done for me…"

Andrew sighed. Maybe if he owned a car he'd understand.

"Come on. Let's go inside and look at your hand. We might need to call for help…"


	15. 15

As the mother of a teenaged daughter, Janet Fraiser was used to the phone ringing – even at all hours of the night. On school nights there was a limit to how late Cassie could receive calls, but on the weekends, Janet preferred to rely on Cassie's friends' own sense of what was too late. Usually that worked fine, since most parents didn't allow their kids to make calls all that late – even when there wasn't school the next day.

So when the phone rang at what was an ungodly hour on Saturday night, Janet rolled over with a muffled curse and grabbed blindly for it – sleepily debating whether to chew out whoever it was or allow Cassie to talk to her.

"Hello?"

A male voice responded – and it wasn't one that Janet recognized. Obviously the boy didn't recognize her voice, either.

"Is… um… Doctor Fraiser there, please?"

Janet frowned, looking at the clock on the stand by her bed once more. She wasn't an expert in voices, but it definitely sounded like a young man – and it wasn't for _Cassie_. Of course, very few boys called for Cassie anymore – mainly because Ian was an intimidating young man who kept most would be suitors away. Which was fine with Janet.

"_This_ is Doctor Fraiser. Who's this?"

"Andrew Stephens."

Janet frowned again.

"Andrew?" What on earth was he calling for? "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"What do you need, honey?"

Of course to Janet, Andrew was still the little boy she'd first met so many years ago – even though she knew he was only a couple of years younger than Cassie. She hadn't seen him since Jack and Sam's wedding, though, and he'd looked young then, too.

"Um…"

Andrew hesitated, sounding a little odd, even over the phone.

"Andrew?"

"If someone was… uh… cut by a bear… would there be any reason to worry about an infection or a disease?"

"Cut by a bear?"

"Well… not so much cut as… slashed wide open… on his hand…"

"Andrew? What are you talking about?"

Was it just that it was late, or was he making no sense?

"Well, we kind of had an accident."

"Who's _we_?"

"Ian and me."

"Ian _Brooks_?"

"Yeah."

"Ian was slashed by a bear?"

"Kind of."

"Did you guys sneak into the zoo?"

That didn't seem like the kind of thing either of them would do. Janet didn't even think Ian _liked_ animals – except dogs.

"No."

Janet frowned.

"What happened? Is Ian all right?"

"Yeah, it's just his hand."

"Tell him to come right over," Janet said, pushing back the blankets. "I'll check it out and-"

"We can't."

"What? Why not?"

"We're stuck up in the mountains."

"You were attacked by a _wild_ bear?"

"_I_ wasn't."

"Ian was?"

"Yeah."

"Is he bleeding?"

"Oh, yeah."

Janet was on her feet, now.

"Is he conscious?"

"It's just his hand, Doctor Fraiser. And a few scratches on his chest – but they already stopped bleeding. _He_ says he's all right – we just need to know if we need to worry about him getting any diseases."

"Andrew, what were-"

There was a noise in the background.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Fraiser, I need to go."

The phone suddenly went dead, and Janet stared at it for a long moment, and then hit the flash button and made a call of her own. It took a few rings, but a moment later there was a very sleepy and almost unintelligible answer.

"Yeah?"

"Colonel O'Neill? Where's Ian?"

"What?"

"Ian. Where is he?"

"Ian _who_?"

Janet scowled, but she knew it was her own fault for trying to have a real conversation with him when she'd woken him up in the middle of the night. Especially since he and Sam hadn't been getting all that much sleep lately.

"Ian. Ian."

"Ian?"

He sounded a little more awake, now.

"Yes."

"He's with Andrew…"

"I know that, sir. Andrew just called me."

"What? Why?"

"Well, since he was asking about the side effects of being mauled by a wild bear, I-"

"A wild what?"

"Bear."

"Are there bears in Colorado?"

"Where is he, Colonel?"

"In the mountains. At the lodge."

"Can you find it? I need to get up there and check on him."

"They're stuck behind an avalanche, doc. We can't get to them until the road guys clear it out tomorrow morning. How bad is it? Did Andrew say?"

_Now_ Jack sounded wide awake.

"He said Ian said he was fine and that it was his hand, mostly. I really need to get up there, Colonel."

Now she was in doctor mode, and that meant she had to make sure that her patient was okay.

"I'll call them and see what's going on," Jack promised her. "If it's serious, we can take a chopper up there and get them out."

"Let me know."

"I will."

The phone went dead, and Janet headed for the living room to do some checking on the Internet to find out more about bear bites.


	16. 16

"What's up?" Sam asked sleepily as Jack turned on the lamp by his side of the bed and started rifling through the drawer of the stand.

"I'm not sure, yet," he told her, moving his Beretta out of the way and pulling out a stack of papers. "I don't suppose you know the number to the lodge?"

"Where Ian is?"

"Yeah. I _know_ I have it somewhere…"

"They called from there, right?" Sam said, propping herself up on an elbow and looking at him. "Check the caller ID on the phone."

Jack picked up the phone. Sure enough it was the second number on the list – right behind Janet's.

"You're a genius."

"I know. What's going on?"

"Apparently Andrew called Fraiser, asking about bear attacks or something and told her-"

"_Bear attacks_?"

"That's what she said."

"What on Earth would they-"

"Ian was attacked by a bear – I think. It's not bad, Andrew said."

"Attacked by a…"

Sam trailed off as Jack started dialing, scooting closer and pressing up against his back so she could get her ear close to the phone, too.

OOOOOOO

"You called Fraiser?"

"She's a doctor. She'd know if-"

"She's going to go nuts, Andrew," Ian told him, scowling.

"You're still bleeding," Andrew pointed out, gesturing to the blood-splattered towel Ian had wrapped around his hand.

"It's starting to ease up."

He sat down, still scowling.

"Shit. She's going to call Jack, and then he's going to tell Sam and they're going to worry and-"

"It's not like they're _not_ going to find out," Andrew told him. "You're not going to be able to hide it, and I wanted to see if we had to worry about some kind of diseases…"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What did she say about it?"

"I hung up when you came back into the room."

"Shit."

"Sorry."

Ian sighed and leaned back, holding his hand tenderly. It was really throbbing, and he hadn't been able to get it cleaned out at all, because it hurt like a motherfucker when he'd tried to run water over it.

"Don't be." How could he be mad that the guy was worried about him, after all? "Thanks for shooting the thing and getting it away from me."

"I didn't shoot it. I shot up into the air."

If he'd shot at the bear, chances were he'd have hit Ian.

"Yeah, well… thanks."

Andrew smiled, slightly.

"You're welcome. How does it feel?"

"It's killing me. Not _really_ killing me," Ian added before Andrew could worry. "It just hurts like a sonofabitch."

"What can I do?"

"You've already done it."

"What do you mean?"

"Janet's going to call Jack. Jack will either call here and check on us, or immediately get a hold of someone – probably Thor – to beam us back to the SGC where I will be met by Fraiser, who will do all sorts of awful things to me – _in the name of medicine, of course_ – and will have to leave my car here. Probably until the spring thaw, since she'll probably keep me in the infirmary until July."

"Your car isn't going to be damaged up here, Ian. There's no one to vandalize it or anything like-"

"Two _bear cubs_ just scratched the shit out of it, Andrew," Ian said, scowling. "If it _stays_ up here, it's going to get eaten by a moose or something – I just know it."

"You might be _wrong_, you know. There's no reason to think the first person she calls will be-"

He was interrupted by the phone ringing, and Ian smirked – despite his annoyance.

"I'm never wrong."

Not when it came to these things.

Andrew shook his head, smiling in disbelief, and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Andrew?"

He looked over at Ian.

"Hi, Jack."

Ian rolled his eyes.

"Is Ian all right?"

"His hand is pretty messed up, Jack."

"Let me talk to him…"

Andrew handed the phone over to Ian.

"He wants to talk to you."

With his good hand, Ian took the phone.

"Hello?"

"How the hell do you get attacked by a _bear_?"

"I'm great, Jack, thanks for asking."

"How's the hand?"

"Bleeding. It could have been a lot worse, though. I'm fine."

"Yeah? Why don't I believe you?"

"I don't know…"

"Tell Andrew to get hold of Thor and have him beam both of you back to the SGC immediately."

Ian scowled, looking over at Andrew.

"He wants you to contact Thor."

"I can't. I left my communication device at home."

"He can't," Ian repeated. "He left his communication device at home."

Jack swore.

"Fine. _I'll_ get hold of him. You two sit tight – and keep pressure on the cut."

"Okay."

"Stay _inside_. And don't even go _near_ the stuffed deer head…"

Ian scowled, but he could hear a gentle giggle in the background, and knew it was Sam's. At least she wasn't worried about him, he supposed. That was something.

"Okay, Jack."

The line went dead, and Ian dropped the phone on the couch beside him.

"Stupid fucking bears."

OOOOOOO

Sam lifted her head off Jack's shoulder as he hung up the phone.

"You're going to get Thor?"

"Yeah."

Besides Shawn and Andrew, he was the only one with instant access to the Asgard. He rifled through the drawer again, and pulled out the signaling device that told Thor he needed him.

"You'll be okay for a while?" He asked Sam.

She nodded.

"I'll be fine."

Jake was sleeping through the night, now. More or less.

"I'll be back as soon as I-"

There was a soft growl from Jaffer, a flash of light, and then the lab and Jack were both gone.


	17. 17

Thor was standing at the edge of his bridge when Jack and Jaffer appeared in front of him. The little alien looked up at O'Neill, and Jack could see surprise and confusion in his expression – which was saying something, since Thor's face was almost as hard to read as Teal'c's.

"O'Neill… where are your clothes?"

Jack looked down at himself, and flushed. Clothes. Yeah. He'd need some of them.

"Beam me back, I need to get dressed."

"Call when you are ready."

A moment later Jack vanished from the bridge of the ship, leaving Jaffer standing alone facing Thor. The black lab stared at the spot Jack had been in only an instant before, his expression surprised.

"Do not worry. He will return shortly."

Thor actually rather liked Jaffer – although he'd never admit it to anyone – especially the other Asgard. He'd watched the lab grow from an ungainly puppy into a creature that outweighed him by at least 60 pounds, and he was always intrigued when he watched the dog interact with Jack O'Neill – who doted on him more than Thor had even imagined the Colonel was capable of.

He ran his palm against the arm of his command chair, and a flash of white light later, there was a bag of treats in his hand. Jaffer immediately turned towards the little alien, his attention fully captured by the snacks. Thor had learned a few things in his time with Shawn, and he knew how to keep the lab occupied while they waited for Jack to contact him again.

OOOOOOO

The flash of white surprised Sam – especially when an instant later, Jack was once more standing in the room. She grinned, though, figuring it out immediately.

"_Clothes_ would be good."

"Yeah."

"Unless you just wanted Thor to see your-"

"_Stop_," he said, raising his hand, palm out to keep her from saying what she was going to say next. "I don't _even_ want to go there."

She smiled, and watched as he gathered up some clothes and dressed. Boxers, blue jeans, a hastily tossed on t-shirt and slip on loafers were plenty – much more than he'd _had_, that was for sure.

"Do me a favor, and call Fraiser. Tell her to get her bag and be ready."

"You're going there?"

"We'll go up to the lodge – there's no one there but Andrew and Ian, so it'll be safe enough for Thor to beam us into."

Sam nodded, reaching for the phone, and a moment later there was a flash of light and Jack was gone – along with his clothes, this time.

OOOOOOOOO

"Janet?"

"Hey Sam. What have-'

"Are you dressed?"

Janet frowned, wondering why it sounded like the beginning of a prank phone call.

"Yes."

"Good. Grab your bag and be ready."

"What?"

She'd already begun to pack up the things that she thought she might need and put them into her portable medical kit – she didn't like to call it her _black bag_, although that's what it was. Reaching over with her free hand, Janet picked it up to carry it to the door. Before she could say anything, though, there was a flash of light and she felt herself dissolving.

A moment later, she found herself standing in a small room, her phone in one hand and her doctor's bag in the other. In front of her were Thor, Jack and Jaffer, all watching her. At least now she understood why Sam had asked if she was _dressed_ – and she was very glad she had been.

"Welcome, Doctor Fraiser," Thor said in that always calm voice of his.

She looked around, with interest – she'd never been up onto Thor's ship before.

"Thank you."

"You can find Ian and Andrew?" Jack asked the little alien, obviously continuing a conversation they'd been having. He'd noticed Janet had her bag, so she was ready.

Thor nodded.

"I have found them already."

"And there's no other people with them?"

"No."

"Can you beam us down there?"

"Of course."

A moment later they were standing in the huge living room area of the lodge, and Andrew gave a surprised yelp as they appeared. The teenager had been walking across the room carrying a can of Mountain Dew – which he promptly dropped – and Jaffer had materialized almost under his feet. The lab dove for the dropped can, instantly, automatically, grabbing it up in his powerful jaws, and Andrew was so surprised to see them all that he didn't even notice.

"Jack!"

O'Neill nodded, looking around the room and spotting Ian on one of the sofas, a bloody towel wrapped around his hand and his face pale. He, too, had noticed them, but he hadn't been all that surprised. Or maybe he was more interested in just how bad his hand hurt.

Janet moved immediately, heading over towards him and dropping her phone into the bag as she did so.

Ian scowled, although secretly he might have been happy to see her. A little bit, anyways.

"What happened?" she asked, pulling a padded footstool over and sitting on it in front of Ian, reaching for his hand.

He scowled again, but before he could answer, Andrew spoke up.

"He got between a bear and her cubs. Lucky it didn't kill him."

"Thanks to _Andrew_ it didn't," Ian said.

"What were you doing playing with _bear cubs_ in the middle of the night?" Jack asked, noticing Andrew's flush of pleasure at the way Ian had given him credit for saving him.

"I wasn't _playing_ with them, Jack," Ian said, defensively, hissing with pain when Janet managed to take the last part of the towel off. It hurt, even though he knew she was being gentle. "They were all over my fucking car, scratching it up and using it as-"

"Your _car_?"

"Yeah."

"So one of them scratched you?"

"No. The mother bear did – or maybe the _dad_ bear, I didn't look under its – ouch."

"Sorry."

Janet had turned the hand over while Ian had been talking, and unable to see much because of the drying blood, she had pulled out a cloth and was trying to wipe away the blood.

"Andrew? Will you bring me some water?"

"Sure, Doctor Fraiser."

The teenager headed into the kitchen and Jack scowled at Ian.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Ian's scowl was a match for Jack's.

"I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't even _see_ the bigger bear."

"Why did you-"

"They were scratching my _car_!"

"And it never occurred to you that there might be a _parent_ bear around watching them?"

"I didn't think about it."

"No… _really_?" Jack shook his head, amazed. "How did you manage to get past puberty?"

Ian scowled again, but it was a measure of just how distracted he was by the pain that he actually answered before he could stop himself.

"My mother."


	18. 18

_Author's Note: You're right Gate Nerd, Janet was on Thor's ship in_ Scion_. Good catch!_

OOOOOOO

"How's the hand, doc?" Jack asked as Andrew brought in a bowl of warm water and set it on the floor by Janet.

"I just started looking, Colonel. Give me a few minutes, okay?" She glanced at Ian's shirt, which was smeared with blood and ripped, and frowned. "Did she get you there, too?"

He shook his head.

"She missed. Mostly."

"_Mostly_?"

Janet reached over and used her free hand to pull up the front of Ian's shirt, revealing a perfect set of four parallel claw marks, each about four inches long and already starting to scab over, running across the cadet's chest. There was dried blood smeared there as well, but she knew those scratches weren't serious enough to be the source of all the blood on his shirt. Which meant he'd wiped his hand on the shirt at some point.

"That's not serious," Janet told him, dropping his shirt and turning her full attention to his hand once more.

"You're really going to have to start honing those self preservation skills," Jack said, coming over and draping a blanket over Ian's shoulders. The cadet was pale – even for him – and Jack didn't want to risk him going into shock if he could avoid it. So far things looked to be fairly well in hand and he wanted to keep them that way.

"I'll work on that."

Ian winced as Janet tried to clean the wounded hand once more and jerked it away from her – purely by reflex.

"Sorry," Janet said, again, meaning it. It didn't look terribly bad from what she'd managed to see so far, but it was definitely going to need cleaned and stitched. She reached into her bag, moving past the phone and pulling out a syringe.

"What's that?" Andrew asked, already looking green.

"A local painkiller."

"I don't-"

"A _local_ one," Janet repeated, taking Ian's hand and stabbing the needle into the fleshy part of his palm, right below the thumb. "It's not going to knock you out – just make it so I can work on you without having to tie you down."

"Oh."

Janet wasn't offended or even annoyed with him. She'd long since understood his reason for hating the side effects of potent painkillers, and while she wasn't above using them when necessary, this wasn't one of those times.

The hand went numb almost immediately, she could tell. Simply by the way he was holding it, and the sudden loss of pain lurking in those expressive dark eyes of his.

"Better?"

He nodded.

"Thanks."

She gave him a rare smile, and started cleaning the hand, using more force, now that he wouldn't feel it and pulling out alcohol swabs to dig out any dirt that the bigger towel might miss. Ian watched with detachment now that his hand didn't hurt, frowning as the blood was wiped away to reveal the extent of the injuries.

"Doesn't look too bad…"

"No… it doesn't."

There was one deep puncture wound in almost the center of his palm – the bear had gotten her claw stuck in his hand – and two slashes on either side, but Janet couldn't see any bones showing, knew that none of the injuries were near vital blood paths, and was fairly certain there weren't any tendons in danger, either.

"Is it going to need stitched?" Jack asked, looking over with interest. He'd never seen a bear attack victim before, after all.

"Oh yes."

Ian scowled, and Janet met his gaze with her own.

"It could have been much worse," she told him. "I don't have to take you anywhere to put stitches in."

"You don't?"

She smiled again, and shook her head, reaching for a suture kit.

"Did you think I was going to keep you in my infirmary for this?"

While it was plain from his expression that he'd thought exactly that, Ian shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

"Of course not."

Andrew snorted.

Yeah, he was definitely a bad liar. Janet had already known that, though. She shook her head, amused, and started stitching the deep puncture wound.

"We'll have to get a better look inside this big one, here," she said not looking up from her work. "As far as I can tell, though, she didn't hit anything important, but we'll keep a close eye on how it heals, and take measures to prevent any loss of motor skills in the hand."

"But he should be okay?" Jack asked.

"He'll have limited use of it for a few days, but it should be fine. We already know he heals fast."

Didn't they just?

"Good. When you're done stitching him up I'll have Thor send Ian and Andrew off to Ian's, and then-"

"No way," Ian said. "I'm not leaving."

Jack frowned.

"Hoping for round two?"

"I'm not leaving my car up here. It'll get-"

"You should probably go home, Ian." Janet told him. "A good night's sleep will-"

"I'm not going to leave my car." He repeated stubbornly. "Something _bad_ will happen to it."

"It's just a car, Ian," Jack said.

"It's not just a _car_, Jack," Ian told him. "It's… _my_ car."

Andrew wondered why Ian didn't mention that Sam had given it to him like he had earlier, but didn't say anything.

"You can't shift with your hand like it is," Janet told him, starting to stitch the bigger of the two slashes beside the deep puncture wound. "How do you expect to drive it out of here?"

Ian scowled.

"I'll figure out something."

"Ian-"

"Jack. It'll get ruined if I leave it alone up here…"

"I'm not going to let you try to drive down the mountain with a bum hand," Jack told him. "If Andrew had his license he could drive the two of you home, but-"

"_I'll_ drive them, Colonel." Janet said, not looking up. She already knew that there wasn't much point in arguing with Ian over his car – _she_ knew why he refused to leave it, even though he hadn't mentioned just why he loved that car so much. Cassie knew, of course, and that meant _Janet_ knew as well. "You'll have to let Cassie know, though, so she doesn't worry."

"You're sure you want to stay?" Jack asked, surprised.

Fraiser shrugged. Better to stay and drive them than to risk Ian crashing the car on the way home.

"I don't mind."

"We have a phone here, Doctor Fraiser," Andrew offered. "You could call Cassie…"

She shook her head, snipping the final stitch.

"I _could_, if I hadn't brought my phone here with me…"


	19. 19

"Do you need anything before we go?"

Ian's hand had been stitched up and bandaged and Janet had given him a good dose of antibiotics – just to make sure there was no chance of infection, his chest had been cleaned of what little blood was there, and the four scratches had been thoroughly cleaned out and covered with an antibiotic ointment, and Jack was ready to return home, now that he knew his protégé was in good hands.

Janet smiled and shook her head.

"It's just for the _night_, right?"

"The DOT is supposed to be clearing the road first thing in the morning," Jack confirmed.

"Then we'll be fine."

Besides, it wasn't like they could waste too much of Thor's time, after all.

"Want me to leave Jaffer?" Jack asked Ian. "You know… in case a pack of angry gophers decides to chew up the tires?"

Ian scowled, and just barely stopped himself from flipping Jack the bird.

"I'll toss Andrew to them."

Jack grinned, and fished the signaling device from his pocket, turning to Fraiser.

"Call me when you get home so I know you all made it safe."

"Yes, Sir."

With a soft growl from Jaffer, Jack and the lab disappeared in a flash of brilliant white light, the Mountain Dew can still in Jaffer's mouth.

Janet looked at the two young men, each sitting on one of the over stuffed sofas.

"Alone at last."

Ian smiled, not at all expecting Janet Fraiser to be in such a good mood – or willing to banter with him. Of course, she'd also stuck up for him, helping him out when he'd needed it and offering to drive his car so he wouldn't have to leave it where it was, and while he really appreciated it, he had to wonder if maybe she was beginning to like him – just a little bit.

"Nice pajamas."

Janet flushed, looking down at herself. She'd actually been wearing a nightgown when Sam had called, but had slipped on a pair of sweats when she'd gotten up, tucking the nightgown into her pants like an overly large shirt. Luckily she hadn't been wearing something more see through. Even luckier that she'd been wearing clothes at all when Thor had beamed her up.

"Well… I was in a rush…" she said, seeing the humor in the situation.

"Would you like a cup of coffee, Doctor Fraiser?" Andrew asked, smiling. "I could make you some."

She shook her head.

"I'm ready to call it a night," she told him. "Where do I sleep?"

"There are lots of rooms upstairs – but they're pretty chilly – or you can take the rec room," Andrew said, thinking. "There are a few couches and we have lots of blankets."

"The rec room will be fine."

That way she could also be close to Ian in case something happened, and still be in her own space.

Andrew stood up and took her to it while Ian leaned back into the cushions of his own 'bed'. His hand was starting to throb a little as the shot she'd given him started to wear off, but he wasn't complaining at all – and wouldn't. It was better than it could have been, after all. A lot better. He looked down at his chest, wondering if the scratches were going to scar – which would make for an interesting conversation starter. If he ever found someone worth starting a conversation with in the first place.

Andrew came back, then, looking over at Ian.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm okay. Thanks."

"It was pretty cool of Doctor Fraiser to stick around, huh?" He asked, softly.

Ian nodded.

"Yeah. She's all right."

Andrew nodded, too, looking like he wanted to say more. Ian, of course, noticed, and while he normally wouldn't have pressed, he hadn't forgotten what his primary goal for that day had been. It certainly hadn't been to wrestle with bears, after all.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

Andrew nodded again.

"I was just thinking how cool it was that Jack and Doctor Fraiser rallied like that for you."

Ian smiled.

"It's not just Jack and her," he said. "It's everyone at the SGC. And it's not because it was me. They're all like that – no matter _who_ it is that needs help. That's the kind of people they are – and a byproduct of the kind of things that they deal with daily."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a bond, I guess," Ian said, making sure to look over at the doorway that Janet had disappeared into. "You work with them, facing some seriously messed up shit day after day and eventually they're going to let you into their little group. Once you're there, you're family – more than family, even – and they'll do anything for you. Even come up into the mountains in the middle of the night on a Saturday wearing nothing but their pajamas just to make sure you're okay."

"And drive you home the next day just so you don't have to leave your car…?"

Ian smiled.

"You're a quick learner, Andrew."

Andrew smiled, and sighed, flopping down on the other end of Ian's sofa.

"I wish I could be in a group like that… It'd be great to have friends like that."

Ian snorted, and reached out with his foot, nudging the younger man's elbow.

"Dipshit. You're already _in_ that group. You have been."

Andrew shook his head.

"Nah. I screwed up. I stayed behind instead of going into the academy and-"

"You've been in the group way longer than just this last year, dumb ass." Ian said. "The minute you started working with Thor and Shawn, you joined a group that is about as select as it comes. Add to that the fact that Teal'c cares more about you than he does anyone else on the planet – except maybe Jack and Jack – and fill it in with the fact that Shawn thinks of you as a brother, and you'll see that you've already got the friends you need. You certainly don't need the losers that hang out together and snub you at your school."

Andrew stared at him. He'd never actually thought of it like that, before.

"But they don't have time to really-"

"Teal'c makes more time to be with you than he does to do anything else," Ian said. "He's busy, sure, but he makes the time. Shawn would spend more time with you if you mentioned it to him – he told me that he assumed you saw too much of him with your lessons with the Asgard and wanted time away from him. And while he is limited in how much free time he has to spend off campus, I know if you mentioned wanting to do something with him, he'd make the time."

"You think so?"

"I know it."

"Huh."

Ian shrugged, and then made an offer that would have caused several people to have heart attacks had they heard it.

"For that matter… if you _really_ wanted some company at night – _and_ a headstart on the Academy next year – you can spend some evenings over at my place, and I'll start drilling you on the basic courses you're going to be taking next year."

"Really?"

"When I'm _around_," Ian said, shrugging again. "Why not? You're not going to learn anything hanging out with people who are just trying to use you for right answers, after all."

"Wow…"

Ian scowled. It wasn't like he was all that great. Andrew didn't need to make it seem like Jesus had invited him to go skiing or something.

"I'm not the easiest guy in the world to get along with, though…"

Andrew smiled.

"I'll take my chances… thanks…"

Ian shrugged – again. It was pretty much what he did when he was uncomfortable, after all. Well, among other things.

"You're welcome. Now move so I can get some sleep."


	20. 20

Ian didn't really sleep. He _wanted_ to – since it was incredibly late and he was tired – but his hand was killing him and he just couldn't seem to get comfortable no matter how many times he shifted on the couch. Finally, he gave up, and simply sprawled there, his hand cradled protectively against his chest and his eyes glued to the window, waiting for a sign that the sun was beginning to come up while he listened to Andrew's gentle snores.

When there was finally the faintest light coming from outside, Ian rolled off the couch, making no noise in his sock feet as he walked across the living room and to the entrance hall. He opened the closet and pulled out a jacket, which he put on over his bare shoulders (his shirt having pretty much been ruined the night before) and shoving his feet into a pair of boots to keep from freezing. He grabbed a stocking hat and crammed it down over his head and ears and headed outside to check the damage to his car, quietly opening the front door to the lodge and stepping out onto the porch.

And stopped before he even took a step.

On the front lawn – or where the front lawn would be if there was actually lawn and not a lot of snow – were several deer, browsing through the few bushes that lined the perimeter of the front yard, lips delicately plucking the green leaves from their branches while avoiding the dried out brown ones. Two of the deer had fawns standing beside them, nursing while their mothers had breakfast.

Frozen in place by the serenity of the picture, Ian nonetheless looked over towards his car to make sure these deer weren't just part of some twisted forest prank, taking his mind off his car while some aggravated badgers tore up his rag top. The car was unmolested, however, and Ian looked back at the deer – only to find the entire group staring at him – surprised by his sudden arrival.

"Yeah, yeah. Scoot."

They bolted as one, the fawns running on impossibly long legs beside their mothers and the rest of the group taking off across the parking lot and disappearing into the forest, presumably after a quieter place to forage.

"Dumb things."

Ian liked deer, but only on a barbeque – or as roast, or steak or jerky. He definitely didn't feel like gawking at a bunch of them just then – besides, when he went hunting with his uncle, they never went for does anyways, and never fawns, so the deer had no interest for him. Especially as crabby as he was feeling just then as he stumped down the stairs of the lodge and waded through the snow over to look at his car, his hand throbbing in the bitter cold of the morning.

"Sonofa_bitch_…"

The hood of the car was scratched all to shit. Looking a lot like his chest, almost all the scratches were parallel lines of four equal distances away from each other. Most of the scratches hadn't reached too much deeper than the paint job, but there were a couple that were more like gouges and Ian ran his hand along one of the deeper ones, wondering how on earth he was going to convince the insurance company to pay for that.

"Fucking bears."

Of course, he could always show the claims adjuster his chest – what better way to authenticate a story no one would ever believe otherwise? He scowled and walked around the car, looking for any more damage, but the rest of it was in good shape, the paint job gleaming in the early morning sun.

"Fucking bears."

Ian saw the marks in the snow from the scuffle with the bear the night before, and the tracks of all three of them taking off, and for a moment was seriously tempted to go find them and settle the score. But common sense asserted itself, and he fought down that urge fairly quickly. The last thing he needed was to go into the woods looking for a fight. Especially considering how easily the bear had won the first round.

The sound of a slamming door brought his attention back to the porch and he saw Doctor Fraiser coming outside. She was still dressed in her sweats – and presumably the ugly shirt she'd had on the night before – but was now bundled in a coat and woolen hat, with oversized boots on her bare feet. Ian smiled – since she was too far away to see it – and gave her a half-wave, letting her know he'd seen her. A moment later she was heading down the stairs and coming over to the car as well.

"Ouch."

Her sharp gaze took in the damage on the hood of the car just as quickly as Ian's had, and there was definitely a sympathetic wince in her expression.

"Yeah…"

Ian looked mournfully at his car.

"I suppose you can always look at this as a good way to change the color if you weren't happy with the way it looks now…"

"I suppose…"

He scowled, though. He'd _liked_ the color it was.

Catching the look out of the corner of her eye, Janet smiled and changed the subject to one far less painful.

"How's the hand?"

"It's okay."

"I'm not going to keep you in the infirmary."

Oh yeah.

"It hurts like a motherf- it's a bit sore…"

Her smile turned into a grin, because she knew exactly what he'd been planning on saying, and was amused – and slightly touched – that he tended to watch his language around her. Especially since the only other people she'd ever seen him do that with was Cassie and Sam. Everyone else was fair game to that sharp tongue – and quick temper.

"Did you take any Tylenol?"

She'd told him to take some if he was hurting. It probably wouldn't do all _that_ much for the pain, but it wouldn't hurt.

"Not yet. I just got up."

And it probably wouldn't help, anyways.

"How did you sleep?"

"Lousy."

She decided that he was in a fairly bad mood – but she couldn't really blame him. His car looked terrible and his hand was probably killing him.

"What were you doing up here, anyways?" She asked curiously. "I didn't think you liked the great outdoors."

"I _hate_ them," Ian admitted. He was a city boy, after all, born and bred. The outdoors were good to get from building to building – or to hunt in – but aside from that, they weren't his cup of tea. "I was doing someone a favor."

"Ah."

She didn't pry any further, knowing that if it was really gossip worthy, she'd hear it from Cassie eventually, and if it was something more personal, then it wasn't any of her business. She shivered.

"Let's go inside. I'll look at your hand, and then see about making breakfast."

He gave her a slightly hopeful look at the word breakfast, but then he scowled again.

"Good luck. There isn't a can opener in the entire place."

Janet smiled, wondering what they'd eaten the night before, then.

"I'll see what I can do, " she promised him.

Well, it was undoubtedly more than he and Andrew would have been able to do, so Ian couldn't help but be a little optimistic as he followed her back into the lodge. He was starving.


	21. 21

Ian's hand was swollen and red, the stitches looking almost as if they were being pulled taut by the swelling. It looked awful to Ian, who wasn't all that familiar with such injuries, and he was absolutely certain that the first thing out of Doctor Fraiser's mouth was that they were going to need to do more tests on the hand – which would mean that he'd end up in the infirmary sure as shit.

He watched as she examined the wounds, her face expressionless so he couldn't tell what she was thinking. When she looked up, though, she knew right away that something had him worried, because his expression was worried as he looked at the hand – almost afraid.

She gave him a slight smile, to ease it a little, mistaking his concerns.

"Don't worry, Ian," she told him. "The wound's clean, and although it's swollen I'm not going to let there be an infection this time."

"_This_ time?" Andrew asked, from where he'd been sitting on the arm of the couch Ian was sitting on, watching the procedure. "You've been attacked by a bear before?"

"Last time it was a tree," Janet explained, not smiling now, because the last time she'd allowed her personal feelings to put Ian in serious jeopardy, and that wasn't something she found at all amusing.

"I got cut and it got infected," Ian said, looking over at Andrew. "It wasn't that bad, though…"

It was, but Janet didn't correct him. Instead she touched the edges of the stitched areas carefully, watching him for any sign of severe pain.

"Hurt?"

"A little."

He was relieved that she didn't think the wounds were going to infect, and a bit gratified by the concern she was showing – although he'd never admit it, and knew she'd prefer that he didn't.

"Here?" She touched another spot.

He nodded, but didn't jerk his hand away, which told her that while it was sore, it wasn't excruciating.

"The stitches are being pulled a little by the swelling, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as the swelling doesn't continue. We'll ice the hand to keep the swelling down – which should ease the soreness a bit, too – and then we'll take a look in a day or so, just to be sure there's nothing going on that needs dealing with."

Since she didn't mention anything about constant care or checking on him regularly, Ian breathed a sigh of relief, and Janet heard it. She smiled as she started to put a clean bandage on the hand, and looked at his chest – which was bare since he'd taken off his coat and hadn't kept the bloody ripped t-shirt on. The cuts there were clean, too, just a little swollen. She decided that they'd probably leave an interesting scar.

"Andrew? Didn't you say your uncle lives up here?"

Andrew nodded.

"Him, my aunt, my cousin and my grandmothers…"

"Why don't you go see if he has a shirt that Ian can borrow?"

It was warming nicely in the living room and lower level of the lodge, but it was still too chilly to be running around without a shirt on.

Andrew nodded, and got up, heading out of the living room, and Janet turned back to Ian.

"How does your chest feel?"

Ian shook his head.

"It's okay."

"We'll bandage it, just to make sure it stays clean – and because I've never actually dealt with a bear attack before – but you probably won't need to do much with it after a couple of days."

"Thanks, Doctor Fraiser."

She smiled, and started bandaging his chest, careful not to hurt him as she applied the antibiotic ointment. By the time she was finished, Andrew was back with a handful of clothing – and he was wearing a clean shirt as well.

"I borrowed some clothes from my aunt, too, Doctor Fraiser," Andrew said – a little shyly. He wasn't sure if she wanted it pointed out that she looked like some kind of homeless person wearing those sweats and that ugly shirt and nothing else.

"Thank you, Andrew."

She took the clothing he offered her and got off the footstool she'd been sitting on while she'd been taking care of Ian.

"I'm going to go change, and then we'll see about breakfast."

When she was gone, Andrew tossed Ian a shirt – ironically enough it was a white t-shirt.

"How's the hand?"

"It's okay."

"How's your car?"

"FUBAR. The hood is anyways."

"You're insured?"

"Up to my ass."

Andrew smiled and watched as Ian put the clean shirt on.

"If you want to take it easy, I can help Doctor Fraiser make breakfast."

Ian shook his head.

"I'll help – if she lets me. I already know I'm not going to be doing much when it comes to doing the dishes."

The two of them got up and headed into the kitchen, both hungry and both hoping that Fraiser would be able to figure out something better for breakfast than what they'd had for dinner the night before.

OOOOOOOOOO

"What did you two eat last night for dinner?" Janet asked curiously as she looked through the cupboards. The kitchen wasn't in shambles, so obviously they hadn't cooked. Or if they _had_, then they'd done a fine job of cleaning things up.

"Venison roast and mac and cheese." Andrew answered, while Ian went over and leaned against the counter out of the way until Janet could tell him what she wanted him to do to help.

Fraiser looked at them, surprised.

"You cooked a roast?"

"Somewhat." Ian said.

"_Somewhat_?"

"Some of it was cooked," Andrew clarified. "Most of it was pretty red, still… but it was already burning, so we-"

"You ate _raw_ _venison_ for dinner?"

"We ate the cooked part," Ian assured her. "The rest we tossed."

So they weren't completely crazy, then, Janet decided with relief. Otherwise she was going to end up with both of them on medications for all sorts of parasites, she was certain.

"Well…" she said, finishing her examination of the ingredients in the kitchen and pantry by checking the fridge, "I think I can do better than that. Andrew? Will you find me a mixing bowl and a couple of frying pans?"

Hopeful, Andrew opened the cupboard, while Janet rolled up the sleeves of her borrowed sweatshirt and started pulling supplies out of the pantry.


	22. 22

_Author's Note: Wow guys, sorry about the wait. The cold that I thought I'd beaten back came back with a fury and knocked me flat the last day or so. All I've been able to do really is sleep and be miserable. Feeling a little better, though, so I'll try to make it up to you._

OOOOOOOO

For someone who was as smart as Janet Fraiser knew he was, Ian was about as worthless in the kitchen as anyone she'd ever met – and she'd seen a _lot_ in her time. Part of it was probably the fact that his hand was killing him, she knew, but all she'd been able to allow him to do was make coffee without feeling the need to supervise him step by step. Andrew at least had been able to help her mix up the pancakes (she'd found mix in the cupboard, and had briefly wondered why the guys hadn't made themselves pancakes the night before – until she watched as Andrew sliced his hand trying to cut through a block of frozen bacon they'd found in the deep freezer.

"If you thaw it, it's easier to cut," she'd told him, cleaning the wound on his hand and deciding it didn't need stitches.

"If I thaw it, it's _slimy_," Andrew said. "I thought I'd probably cut myself."

"And this is better _how_?"

He'd taken the sarcasm a lot better than Ian would have – being a far better natured person than the cadet was – and had willingly switched over to mixing the pancakes and leaving slicing the bacon to her, while Ian promptly dropped the coffee that he was trying to open, spilling grounds all over the hardwood floor.

"Mother fuc-"

He bit back the curse at the last possible second, but couldn't control his temper quick enough as he lashed out with his foot, kicking the offending can against the bottom of the stove with a loud clang.

Janet tossed him a look, and he scowled, but mumbled an apology, and reached down with his unbandaged hand and picked up the coffee can – which had enough grounds left in it to make a couple pots, although the floor itself had far, far more than that.

Pancake batter joined it a moment later when Andrew, distracted by Ian, lost his grip on the bowl and the stirring of the spoon caused the centrifugal force to spin the glass bowl right off the counter, crashing to the floor and breaking, half-mixed batter and glass going everywhere.

"That's it."

Both young men looked at Janet with varying degrees of guiltiness, and she brandished the knife she was holding.

"Get out of the kitchen. Both of you. I'll call you when breakfast is ready.

"I can help-" Ian started to say, but Janet shook her head.

"You're more hindrance than help right now, Ian. Go and watch TV or something. _Anything_."

Ian scowled, but Janet ignored the look and shooed Andrew away as well, the teenager trying to start cleaning up the pancake mess he'd made.

"Andrew, get away from that before you cut yourself again. I-"

"_I_ made the mess, Doctor Fraiser," he protested. "I should clean –"

"I'll take care of it. Go."

Shaking her head, she watched as both of them left the kitchen, and then turned back to the mess. She didn't know if Andrew was a genius or not, but she knew he was bright, and Ian, of course, was off the chart when it came to intelligence. How could they be so worthless in the kitchen?

OOOOOOOO

It was less than half an hour later when the smell of frying bacon started permeating the air, causing Ian and Andrew to both gravitate back towards the kitchen. Despite having been exiled from that room, they were both hungry enough to risk peeking their heads in the door to see how much longer it would be, and both were promptly told not to set foot into the room.

Before Ian could say anything – probably argue, Andrew decided – the phone rang, drawing their attention off food for a moment. Andrew answered it.

"Hello?"

"Andrew?"

"Yeah?"

"This is Cassie Fraiser. Is my mom there?"

"Yeah, hold on."

Still holding the phone, he walked to the kitchen door.

"Doctor Fraiser? It's Cassie…"

Janet was in the middle of flipping pancakes, and turned towards the door, although she didn't leave the griddle.

"Ask her if she's all right…"

"I could flip those for you if you want to talk-" he was cut off with a glare that had frozen far braver men than himself, and he raised the phone to his ear. "She wants to know if you're all right…"

"Tell her I'm fine, I was just wondering when she was going to be home."

"She just wants to know when you're going to be home," he passed on. He answered it himself, though. "We're not sure when they'll have the road cleared, but it shouldn't take all that long if they've started. A few hours – maybe more."

There was a pause.

"Can I talk to Ian?"

Andrew rolled his eyes, but handed the phone over to Ian, who had been hovering close by once he'd heard who was on the phone.

"She wants to talk to you."

Ian took the phone from him and promptly disappeared into the living room, while Andrew watched Janet through the doorway of the kitchen.

"You're sure there's nothing I can do to help?"

Janet hesitated. There was canned orange juice that could be opened, but without the can opener that meant using a knife, and Andrew had already proven himself inept with sharp objects. She didn't need to test fate any further by giving him a job that required him to use another one.

"Why don't you set the table?"

"Okay."

That was something he could do – and when Ian finished talking to Cass, he could help, if there was anything left to do by then.


	23. 23

_Author's Note: I decided (with help) that there would be more than one phone in Janet's house. Or, for that matter, Cassie could be calling from a pay phone, or the neighbor's or from Sam and Jack's house._

OOOOOO

"Cassandra?"

She smiled when she heard his voice, even though he couldn't see it.

"Ian. How are you? Did you _really_ get attacked by a bear?"

"I'm fine, Cassandra. Your mom stitched me up. How are you?"

"Aside from a little annoyed that I don't get to be there with you and my _mom_ does…?"

Ian frowned.

"I didn't have anything to do with-"

"I know, Ian, I'm just teasing you. Any idea how long it'll be until you guys are out of there?"

"It'd better be today," he told her. "I wonder if I should call them and make sure they're getting started…"

Cassie smiled, pretty certain that if he called anyone, he'd probably get them angry at him – and they'd probably leave him up at the lodge until the snow melted, just out of spite.

"I'm sure they're doing all they can."

Ian sat down on the sofa, his throbbing hand resting carefully against his chest.

"Yeah."

"So…?"

"What?"

"Are you going to tell me how you managed to get attacked by a bear?"

"It's dumb."

"Come on… please?"

Like he could ever say no to her?

"A couple of cubs were fu- messing with my car, and I ran out to stop them, not knowing that the mother bear – or father bear, whatever it was – was right there, too. The cubs took off, but the bigger bear came after me."

"What did you do?"

"Threw a snowball at it."

She laughed, and then realized he was serious.

"You drove it away with snowballs?"

"Nah, Andrew shot at it and scared it off. It-"

"Breakfast!"

Even Cassie heard that. She smiled, and decided to cut the conversation short – even though she would have talked to him all day if she could.

"You'd better go eat."

If he wasn't starving, he might have hesitated a bit more, but Ian could smell bacon and pancakes and the venison roast from the night before had been a long time ago.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Call me when you get home?"

"Yeah."

"I love you."

He hesitated, but Cassie knew it wasn't because he didn't love her. She didn't have any real doubts anymore about his feelings for her.

"I do you, too…" he said, finally. "I'll see you as soon as I can."

She smiled and hung up the phone. Dumb boys.

Ian turned off the phone and tossed it onto the couch beside him, then got to his feet and headed into the kitchen. Janet looked over at him from her position by the stove.

"How's Cass?"

"She's fine. Just wanted to know when we were going to be back."

Janet doubted that was the main reason for her to call, but she nodded anyways.

"When we're done eating, we'll call and see what's going on."

"Okay." He looked at the huge stack of pancakes she'd made – all piled on a plate and ready to go to the table. "Want me to carry that?"

"No." She didn't want to make more when he dropped them. Besides, she was hungry, too. "Why don't you bring that can of juice?"

Ian looked to where she was pointing and saw a large can of orange juice sitting on the counter.

"Andrew already brought out glasses," Janet said, before he could reach for some. "Just bring the can. And be careful with that hand."

Which was her way of telling him to be careful with the can, and he knew it. However, the prospect of a solid meal under his belt was more than enough to make up for that, and he didn't even scowl as he followed her out of the kitchen and into the dining room where Andrew was already sitting – a plate filled with bacon in front of him, as well as butter, syrup and everything else they'd probably need.

"I have to ask," Janet said as they sat down and Andrew and Ian both waited politely for her to take what she wanted before they decimated the pile of pancakes. "How can two intelligent young men such as yourselves be so helpless in the kitchen…?"

Andrew blushed.

"My mom never lets me cook – or help her. She won't let Anna – that's my sister – help her, either. She says it's her job to make dinner or whatever, and it's our job to tell her just how great it is. And my grandmothers are even worse. They _like_ to cook and don't let anyone into the kitchen if they can help it. Except to do the dishes."

Which was probably where his mother had picked up the habit as well, Janet decided. She looked at Ian, waiting for his explanation.

He shrugged.

"I pulled a pot of boiling water down off the stove when I was little. It didn't even touch me, but it scared my mom, and she hasn't let me near the kitchen since."

Now why didn't that surprise her? Not only that Ian would have done something like that when he was little, but that Maggie Brooks – who was extremely protective of her son – would have kept him away from any perceived threat from then on. The woman probably figured Ian was more than capable of getting into mischief elsewhere – and Janet was certain that he had – and had probably kept him as far from the kitchen as possible.

"We can do the dishes, though," Ian said. "One thing I definitely _can_ do is dishes."

Yeah, well… she had her doubts about that, too.


	24. 24

As it turned out, they didn't need to call anyone. While they were still wolfing down their breakfast – well, Ian and Andrew were _wolfing_, Janet was eating like a human being – the phone rang again.

"I'll get it," Janet told them. It wasn't necessary; neither male had even made a move to leave their plates, and Ian had actually speared another couple of pancakes onto his plate. She smiled. "No… really, guys… I _insist_…"

Still grinning, she headed into the living room, where she found the phone ringing on the sofa. Assuming it would be Cassie again or maybe one of the O'Neills, she turned on the phone.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Ma'am, this is Geoff Gardner with the Colorado Department of Transportation."

"Please tell me you're working on the avalanche?"

There was a hesitation.

"Yes, ma'am. I was just calling to inform you that we've started the road clean up process and will have the road passable in approximately a couple of hours."

Janet smiled.

"That's good to hear."

"Yes, ma'am. Are you and those with you all right?"

"We're fine."

It was nice of him to ask, though.

"I'll call you when we have it cleared enough that you can navigate the road."

"Thank you, Mr. Gardner."

"You're welcome."

The line went dead, and Janet headed back to the dining room.

To their credit both young men did manage to look up from their meal long enough to make sure everything was all right.

"That was one of the crew working on the road. He says they should have the road cleared enough to 'navigate' it in a couple of hours."

"That's good," Andrew said, shoving a couple of the thick slices of bacon into his mouth.

Ian looked a bit more cheerful about this news, however, Janet noticed. He put his fork down and watched her as she came back over and took her place.

"Are they going to call?"

She nodded and picked up her fork.

"Andrew and I will clean up the kitchen when we're done eating."

"You cooked."

She smiled.

"You're _not_ going to do dishes."

He scowled.

"I can help-"

"You can't get your hand _wet_," she pointed out. "And even if you try to just _dry_ the dishes, chances are you'll drop them or injure your hand. So don't argue with me."

"But-"

"And stop _scowling_ at me, too," she added. "If you want to help out, you can fold up all the blankets and put them away."

Andrew watched as Ian and Janet verbally sparred and couldn't quite hide his amusement – although he did make sure to keep his head down when he couldn't conceal the smile. He'd never have the guts to argue with Doctor Fraiser – although he was pretty sure that Ian wasn't anywhere near ready to come to a shouting match. He hadn't even said a single swear word, after all.

"Andrew?"

He looked up when Ian said his name, and was promptly dragged into the conversation.

"Tell her I can wash the dishes."

He shook his head.

"You're doing fine on your own."

"She's not _listening_ to me, though."

Andrew glanced over to Janet, and saw the amusement in her expression as well and knew he was right. Emboldened by that knowledge, he joined the game as well, feeling a relief to have someone else to joke with.

"What makes you think she'd listen to _me_?"

"You're _younger_, and… I don't know… you still have that puppy dog eyes thing going for you. Put them to use and tell her to stop _babying_ me."

Janet smiled. Ian actually had a _very_ good set of puppy dog eyes when he wanted to use them. She knew; she'd seen him put them to use once before – and had almost fallen for them before she'd realized what was happening.

"Puppy eyes aren't going to help when you've dropped every dish in the kitchen – or ruined my stitches by getting them wet."

"_Jack_ would let me do the dishes."

"Which is why Colonel O'Neill isn't a doctor and I am."

"If it'll make you feel better, Ian, you can wash a load of clothes or something," Andrew said.

Ian's scowl immediately turned on him, and Andrew gave him an innocent look – one that was ruined when he grinned.

"What? Did you drop a washing machine on your head when you were little, too…?"

Janet snorted.

"Smart ass."

But when Ian said it, it wasn't an insult, and Andrew's grin broadened.

OOOOOOO

"You, little guy, are going to have to learn that daddy can feed you when mommy isn't around…"

Jake looked at Jack, his eyes still watery from crying and Jack smiled tenderly at the gaze that was so similar to his own. The infant's eyes, light at his birth, had darkened to an exact match of Jack's own – much to Sam's delight – and at the moment they held an almost exact match to Jack's when he was at his most stubborn. Certainly the lower lip that was sticking out was similar, and when Sam saw it she couldn't stop the giggle – even as Jack pressed the nipple of the bottle he was holding against that little lip.

"Come on, Jake, it's the same stuff mommy gives you – just not in such an attractive canister."

Sam giggled again, and when Jake turned his head at the sound he promptly lost interest in the bottle Jack was trying to give him. Jack scowled.

"_You're_ not helping…"

She shook her head, unable to speak for a moment, but finally managed to choke out an apology.

"Sorry…"

"Why don't you call and make sure Fraiser and Ian haven't killed each other?" Jack asked.

"Fine."

Still chuckling to herself, Sam headed for the phone, and Jack turned back to Jacob, bottle still in hand.

"Okay, kiddo, let's try this again…"


	25. 25

The dishes had been done, the blankets folded and put away and the lower level of the lodge had been cleaned – although it was far less destroyed than Janet would have suspected from two young men stuck up there with nothing to do. She'd gone looking around the outside of the lodge – once more bundled up in borrowed coat and boots – and had declined Andrew's offer of showing her around, saying she was just going to look at the scenery and not wanting to drag him outside into the cold to take her.

When she returned from her walk, Ian and Andrew were engaged in a game of chess – with some of the oddest rules that Janet had ever heard of, Ian still walking Andrew through the some of the more complicated rules, and Janet shaking her head at some of them, wondering how anyone could have come up with such an abnormal take on a classic. It looked entertaining, though, and Andrew was hooked, she could tell. She was just about to ask Ian where he'd learned it when the phone rang.

Thinking that was pretty quick – it had barely been an hour and a half since the guy from the Department of Transportation had called – she reached for the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Janet. How's it going?"

It was Sam.

"Sam." She smiled, because both boys had turned to look when the phone had rang, and when she said Sam's name they both turned back to their game, realizing that it wasn't the DOT telling them the road was cleared. "Everything's fine."

"How's Ian?"

"He's okay. A couple of deep gashes in his hand and some scratches on his chest – you'll have him show you them when you see him next."

Ian scowled, plainly telling Janet that he was listening in on the conversation. Of course, since she was sitting beside him on the sofa there was no way he couldn't be listening in on it.

"I will," Sam said, and Janet knew she was smiling from the amusement in her voice. "You guys are getting along okay?"

"Oh yeah."

"Bored?"

"Ian's teaching Andrew some obscure version of chess," Janet told her, looking over at them and watching as Ian slid a couple of his pawns back onto the board while Andrew wasn't looking.

"The one with the Buddhist pawns?" Sam asked.

"You've seen it?"

"He and Jack made it up when Ian was staying here during Thanksgiving."

Well _that_ explained that, didn't it? Janet thought.

"It's pretty complicated…"

The amusement was still in Sam's voice when she answered.

"I think the rules keep changing, too."

Ian was definitely cheating, Janet decided, although she saw Andrew slip a rook back on the board when Ian wasn't watching, so she decided he wasn't the only one.

"Oh, that wouldn't surprise me, knowing Ian. He gets bored with things being the usual way and tries to make them more interesting, I've noticed."

"Me, too."

"Have you heard anything about the road yet?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"They called a while ago and said it'd be a couple of hours."

"When was that?"

"An hour ago, or so."

"Did you guys eat? Or do we need to arrange an air drop?"

Janet smiled.

"We had pancakes. We're fine, Sam, just stuck."

"How's Ian's car?"

"Don't ask."

"That bad?"

"Oh yeah."

"Poor guy. I'll bet he's upset."

Since Janet didn't really want Ian to know they were discussing him, she couldn't really respond to that with much more than a simple response.

"Yeah."

Almost as if he knew she was talking about him, Ian looked over, and Janet changed subjects again.

"Cassie called, this morning, and checked up on us."

"And talked to Ian?"

"Oh, yes. I-"

There was a loud beep on the phone, and Janet realized it was the other line. Sam heard it as well.

"Maybe that's her."

"Hopefully it's the road crew."

"I'll talk to you later, call me when you get home."

"I will."

She pressed the flash button on the phone, hanging up on Sam and answering the other line.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this the Stephens Lodge?"

The voice was male, and a little hoarse.

"Yes, it is."

"This is Richard Grossman with the road crew that's working on the avalanche that has your people blocked in… I'm just calling to let you know that we have the snow moved enough that you should be able to get through, now."

"That's good news, Mr. Grossman."

"We'll be around, though," he said. "To make sure you get through. Are you planning on leaving there any time, soon? I don't mean to rush you, I just-"

Janet smiled, looking at Ian and Andrew, who were watching her.

"We'll be leaving as soon as we get into the car," she assured the man.

"Great. We'll be watching for you."

"We'll be in a green convertible."

"Yes, ma'am."

He hung up and Janet turned back to the guys.

"You ready? Or do you want to finish the game?"

She, of course, knew the answer. Ian was already picking up the chess pieces.

"We can finish the game at my place," he said to Andrew. "Just remember it's my turn."

"No, it isn't…"

"Yes, it is."

"No, it-"

"Go get your shoes on, guys." Janet told them, interrupting. She'd hate to have to kill them now, after surviving the night with them.


	26. 26

_Author's note: In answer to a question in a review: I don't draft my chapters when I write them, I just write them. Most of the time (but not all) when I start a story I have an idea of what I want to have happen by the end, and usually make it up as I go along. Sometimes, though, I have to outline it in advance, because there are sometimes things that HAVE to happen, and if I don't outline it, I might forget to put it in… especially since things are coming to a head with the series and I'd hate to miss something important_

OOOOOOO

Janet was well aware that of the three, _she_ was the one least dressed. Of course, that wasn't exactly her fault. She'd been beamed in with just her nightgown and sweats – and felt fortunate to have those. Before they left the lodge, she mooched a pair of Andrew's aunt's flats, because there was no way she'd be able to drive in bulky ill-fitting boots, and retained possession of the sweatshirt he'd brought her earlier, which at least sort of went with her sweats. She didn't think she'd need a jacket, since they certainly weren't going to be driving with the top down.

"Ouch…"

Andrew had his first look at Ian's car in the mid-morning light, and he understood why the cadet had seemed so glum that morning. It was badly scratched in several places on the hood – and one spot on the front quarter panel, that looked like maybe one of the bear cubs had started to slip and had dug in a back claw for added grip.

Ian scowled as he looked the damage over – it didn't look any better now than it had. Fucking bears.

"It can be fixed," Janet assured him, opening the door and moving the seat forward so Andrew could slip into the back seat. "It's not like you're not insured, after all."

Ian didn't look mollified, but he just sighed as he went around to the passenger side and got in. It didn't look any better from this angle, though, and it was going to kill him to have to look at that hood the entire way home.

Janet slid behind the wheel, but a minute later they both got out of the car, Ian coming around to the driver's side so Janet could get the car keys out of his pocket, since his bandaged hand couldn't fish them out no matter how hard he tried.

"Sorry about that…"

She gave him a slight smile, knowing just how hard it was for him to allow someone else – especially someone old enough to be his mother – to drive him around in his own car.

"Don't be, Ian. When the stitches come out, you can keep the bandages off. Until then, just remember to put everything in the left pockets."

He nodded, and they got back in the car. Janet started the engine, and backed out of the parking area, while Ian looked over at the area of the woods that the bears had all vanished into the night before.

OOOOOOOO

They came upon the road crew only a short time later, and sure enough there was just enough room for the car to get through, with a huge wall of snow on either side of the small opening. A large snowplow was waiting for them, and when Janet came to a stop to see what they wanted her to do, the guy in the cab of the great machine waved her towards the opening in the snow, which really looked like a tunnel without the top. Janet waved her understanding, and headed for the entrance.

It was slick and bumpy, and Ian had to admit that he wasn't so sure that if _he'd_ been driving he wouldn't have put the car nose first into one of the snow banks. Janet was a better driver than he was; he had to admit – in the _snow_, anyways. He'd never admit that she was better on the _open road_, and he'd never admit _anything_ out loud, but he did breath a silent sigh of relief when they reached the other side of the opening.

He wasn't the only one.

"That was spooky…"

Andrew's voice was just a little shaky – which was how Ian felt, too. And he could tell Janet was fairly relieved as well.

"How is the rest of the road?" She asked, turning to Ian.

"Not like that," he told her. "Unless they fu- messed _it_ up, too."

She pulled the car to a stop beside yet another rig, this one a snow mover, instead of a plow. There were several men standing there, bundled up in bright yellow coats and pants and looking decidedly chilled. One of them pulled down the ski mask that had been covering his face as he walked over to the car.

"Made it, I see."

Janet recognized the voice as belonging to the man who'd called them earlier. Grossman.

"It's pretty slick," she said.

He nodded his agreement.

"We sent mail up to the various residents that are serviced by this road warning them that we'd be doing avalanche control this weekend. I can't for the life of me figure out why you all didn't get the word, but we're really sorry about what happened."

"No harm done," Janet said, giving him a smile.

Ian scowled, glancing at the hood of his car again. Bullshit.

Since he was on the other side of the car, Grossman didn't see his look, however, and he nodded.

"The rest of the road's okay," he told Janet. "This is the only part that was blocked."

Which saved her the trouble of asking.

"Thanks."

Grossman turned back to his men, and waved Janet on through.

OOOOOOOO

Sure enough, the rest of the road leading from the interstate to the lodge was packed snow and ice, but wasn't any worse than it had been when Ian had driven it the day before. Janet was far more used to driving those conditions, and she took the turns faster than Ian had, although she was far from reckless. She was just in a hurry to get home and was certain they felt the same way. Not that the company was bad – it was far better than she'd expected – but she would have liked some underwear.

When she turned onto the freeway, however, Ian spoke up.

"Will you pull off at the first store you see?" He asked, breaking the silence.

She glanced over.

"Hungry?"

"I'd like a pop."

"Me, too," Andrew agreed. "And something to eat."

Teenagers. Always hungry.

Janet nodded.

"Sure thing, guys."

She wouldn't mind having another cup of coffee and maybe a snack, too.

Ten minutes later, she turned off on an exit, and pulled up in front of a gas station.

"Want something?" Ian asked, fairly certain she didn't want to get out of the car dressed like she was.

She smiled.

"A cup of coffee and some kind of muffin, please."

Andrew got out on Ian's side, and Janet watched as a guy walking out of the store stopped and looked at the hood of the convertible, frowning at Ian, whose bandaged hand gleamed brightly. As if he knew immediately that the injury had something to do with the car, the man shook his head.

"What happened to you?"

Ian closed the car door, but Janet heard the answer just fine. And it proved that while Ian might be making an effort with those around him, his attitude towards stranger hadn't changed much.

"None of your fucking business."


	27. 27

Fifteen minutes later, just when Janet was about to go in and make sure something hadn't happened to her charges, Ian and Andrew made an appearance, Ian holding a large paper bag, and Andrew carrying a cup of steaming coffee and a couple of donuts on a napkin. Ian set the bag on the roof of the car and opened the door for Andrew, babying his right hand – which Janet decided had to be killing him if he was being that careful with it.

"Here's some coffee for you, Doctor Fraiser," Andrew said, handing it over as he got into the back seat.

"Thank you, Andrew."

"You want a donut?" He asked as Ian got in as well, the bag in his left hand. "We got donuts and muffins, so you can choose."

"Or you can have a brownie, some Twinkies, some cupcakes, Dingdongs or a pie," Ian added, looking in the bag. "I got apple, lemon, and berry."

"We didn't know what you'd want," Andrew explained.

Janet smiled, reaching out and tipping the bag towards her so she could look into it. Not only did they have those items, but also they had chips, a six-pack of Mountain Dew, several different kinds of candy bars and a bag of Gummy Worms.

"Hungry?"

Ian shrugged.

"Didn't know what _we_ wanted, either. So we figured whatever you didn't eat, we would."

Teenagers; the human garbage disposals.

"I'll have one of those donuts, Andrew," Janet told him, putting the coffee in the cup holder and reaching back for one. "Thanks."

Taking a bite, she started the car and put it into gear, and headed for the interstate once more. They'd be on the road a couple of hours, but they weren't going to arrive home hungry, that was for sure.

OOOOOOO

There wasn't a lot of traffic – even for a Sunday afternoon, and they made good time. Janet was really enjoying the drive – despite not being dressed for it. It'd been a long time since she'd driven a sports car, and the convertible had a powerful engine that Ian had tweaked a bit once Sam had given it to him. What was the point of being a genius when it came to engines and drives if you couldn't apply it to your every day life and give yourself some extra horsepower, after all? He _liked_ driving fast – had never denied that – and now had a car that was more than capable of getting up and going when he asked it to.

Janet, of course, didn't realize that – it _wasn't_ something you told your girlfriend's mother, really – and several times she found herself going well over the speed limit without realizing she was even going so fast. She just assumed that it was her own lead foot – and yes, _she_ liked to drive fast, too, although she'd never admit it to anyone – especially the boys.

Andrew didn't say anything – although she was pretty sure that since he was sitting behind Ian he had a perfect view of the speedometer and knew when she was speeding – she assumed he didn't mind, because he wanted to get home. Ian had dozed off, leaning against the passenger window, his can of Mountain Dew in the cup holder next to Janet's empty coffee cup and his hand cradled protectively in his lap. Janet decided that he'd probably slept badly the night before, and she didn't blame him at all for not being able to stay awake. He'd probably sleep a lot better in his own bed, though, and she was anxious to get him someplace he could be a little more comfortable.

The second time she looked down and realized that the needle had inched towards the century mark, however, Janet shook her head and started slowing down once more. The roads were dry and bare, but it wasn't safe to drive so fast – how did she get going so quickly without noticing? A flashing light in her rearview mirror told her almost immediately that she hadn't slowed down soon enough.

"Shit."

"What?"

Andrew had never heard Fraiser swear before, and looked up from the magazine he'd bought at the gas station. Ian woke a second later as he felt her down shifting and slowing even further, the car coming to a stop on the side of the freeway. He sat up, looking over at her, eyes tired and curious.

"What's up?"

Janet looked into the rearview mirror again, and sighed as the state patrol officers got out of the car that had pulled in behind her, one coming up on her side, and one coming up on Ian's.

"It's the police," she told them, even as she rolled the windows down.

"What?"

Before Janet could explain, the officer on her side – his nametag read 'Patterson' – spoke up.

"Do you know how fast you were going?"

Janet frowned, trying to look innocent.

"No, officer…"

"A hundred and two."

"You were going a _hundred and two_?" Ian repeated, looking over at her.

She sighed.

"License and registration and proof of insurance, please," Patterson said, shaking his head.

Damn.

Janet looked up at the officer as she realized something. Something fairly important.

"I don't have my license on me, officer. I left it at home."

"Uh huh." Patterson didn't look surprised at all, and Janet decided he'd probably heard every story in the book. "Is this your car?"

"It's mine," Ian said, speaking up.

"Can you prove that?" He asked, looking past Janet at Ian. "Got the registration handy?"

The cadet nodded, reaching for the glove box with his left hand.

"What happened to your hand?" The other officer – the one on Ian's side – asked.

"None of yo-"

"Ian." Janet's voice stopped him before he could finish that statement.

He scowled.

"I cut it."

"_Registration_," the officer repeated. He didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence to know what Ian had been planning on saying, and there was nothing he hated more than smart-assed young punks.

Ian opened the glove box and started to reach in, when the officer on his side suddenly reached into the car and grabbed his hand.

_"He's got a gun_!"

Immediately Patterson had his hand on his sidearm, as did the officer that still had hold of Ian's left hand. Shocked at the sudden turn of events, Janet looked over, and could plainly see the butt of Ian's backup Glock in the glove box.


	28. 28

Seeing the potential for things to go very wrong very quickly, Janet spoke up.

"Wait!"

So used to giving orders that her voice cracked with authority – even though she had none in this particular situation – both officers and Ian all froze, looking at her.

"He's military," she explained. "Ian, show them your ID."

"Hold on," Patterson said as Ian shifted in the seat. The state patrol officer still had his hand on the butt of his gun, but to his credit and training, he hadn't pulled it on them, yet. "You," he gestured to Ian. "Get out of the car, slowly."

Ian scowled, but reached over and opened the door with his left hand, pushing it open as the officer on his side moved out of the way, his own hand close to his weapon as well. Ian unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car, stifling a curse when the door swung back and hit his hand. The officer waited to make sure he wasn't going to make a move on him, and then gestured for him to stand at the back of the convertible as he reached in and pulled the Glock out of the glove box.

A moment later Andrew and Janet joined them back there as Patterson escorted them out of the car as well.

"You have a permit for this?" The other officer asked Ian, obviously impressed by the gun.

Ian nodded.

"In my wallet."

"Are you Military, too?" Patterson asked Janet as she watched Ian struggle to get his wallet out of his back pocket with the bandaged hand. The officer eventually ended up pulling it out for him, and handed it to Ian.

"Major Janet Fraiser, United States Air Force," she confirmed.

"Can you prove that?"

"If I had my purse I could."

It wasn't like she slept with her dog tags on at home, after all.

"But you don't have it?"

"No, I left it at home."

"Decided to take a Sunday drive…?"

She scowled at the sarcasm – as did Ian, who had just handed his license and weapons permit over to the other officer.

"I'm a _doctor_," she snapped. "Cadet Brooks here was attacked by a bear and I was sent up to stitch him up and bring him home, since he isn't able to drive with his hand like that."

"Attacked by a _bear_?" Patterson repeated, looking over at Ian, who scowled.

"I thought you said you _cut_ yourself?" The other officer asked.

"On a sharp bear," Ian said.

"Look at the front of his car," Janet said.

"Look at his chest," Andrew added, speaking up for the first time.

Ian scowled again as both officers turned to look at the front of the car.

"The bear did that too, huh?" Patterson asked.

"The little bears did."

The other officer turned to look at Ian's ID and driver's license, and pulled a little notebook from his pocket and asked Janet her full name, birthday and other pertinent questions while Patterson walked over and checked out the front of the car.

"Bear cubs, huh?"

Ian didn't answer.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hello?"

"Is this Colonel Jack O'Neill?"

Jack frowned. When someone called asking if he was who he was, it could only mean bad news.

"Speaking. Who's this?"

"Officer Michael Patterson, Colorado State Patrol, Colonel. Do you know a _Major_ Janet Fraiser?"

Jack looked over at Sam, who had walked into the room.

"Has something happened to her?"

"Answer the question, please, Colonel."

"Yeah," Jack said, scowling. "I know her."

"What does she do for a living?"

"That's _classified_."

There was a pause, and Jack decided that something was definitely weird.

"She's a doctor," he added, giving in just a little – mainly because he was getting impatient with the whole mess and wanted to know what was going on.

"How about Ian Brooks?"

Uh oh.

"What did he do?"

"Do you know him?"

"Yes," Jack said, snapping. "And I know Andrew Stephens, who is probably with them. Now what the hell is going on?"

"We just needed to confirm ID on Fraiser, Colonel," Patterson told him. "We pulled her over, but she's not carrying any identification on her."

"They're okay?"

"Yes, sir."

None of them had thought about Janet's need for a driver's license, Jack realized, knowing that she probably hadn't had time to grab it before she'd left. Oops.

"What did you pull her over for?" He asked, giving Sam a slight smile to reassure her, since she had a slightly worried expression on her face.

"Speeding."

His smile broadened.

"Do you need me to send someone for them?"

"No, sir. Thank you for your time."

"Bye."

The line went dead, and Jack hung up the phone, still smiling.

"What was that all about?"

"Old Lead Foot Fraiser got pulled over in Ian's car – apparently without a driver's license."

Sam smiled, shaking her head. She was glad that everyone was okay, and knew that Janet wasn't going to hear the last of this for a long time.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Patterson hung up his cell phone and walked back to the State Patrol car. Janet was sitting in the back seat of it – since she wasn't wearing a coat or sensible shoes, and the officers hadn't wanted to keep her in the cold if they could avoid it. Ian was leaned against the hood of the cruiser while Andrew was sitting on the hood. Patterson's partner was watching all of them, still holding Ian's Glock.

All three of them had been run through the computer in the cruiser and had come out clean – and with the added benefit of having contacted Colonel O'Neill, Patterson was prepared to believe that Fraiser was really who she claimed to be – even though she didn't have any proof of that. While they had the three of them out of the car, the officers had also checked the car for any other weapons or drugs, and had come upon Fraiser's doctor bag – which held enough medical equipment to make them believe that she was a doctor – or a sick-o who liked prescription drugs and long needles and a suture kit.

There hadn't been anything else in the car – just a lot of junk food – and both men came to the conclusion that the crazy story Fraiser had told them was probably true. As odd as it sounded.

"O'Neill vouched for them," Patterson told his partner, opening Janet's door and holding it for her while she got out. "You're free to go, ma'am, but please… don't speed. No matter how much you need to get your patient home – it's better that he makes it home alive."

The last thing Janet wanted just then was a lecture, and Ian could see it in her expression. He wisely hid his own smile, which faded a moment later as the other officer started to tuck the Glock into his leather belt.

"I'll take my gun back," Ian said, holding his hand out. He didn't know if it was an automatic thing or if the guy had been trying to actually get away with stealing it – Ian was never willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, however – but he sure as hell wasn't going to let him get away with it.

Without a word, the officer handed the Glock over, and Ian tucked it into his jeans, and then took back his registration for the car, the gun, his military ID and his driver's license.

Patterson gave his partner an odd look, but a moment later he waved the group towards the convertible.

"Have a nice day."

"Thank you," Janet answered, knowing Ian wasn't going to, although Andrew echoed the sentiment a moment later.

"Let's go," she said, anxious to get back on the road, and glad that nothing worse had happened.


	29. 29

The rest of the trip was blessedly uneventful. As they pulled into town, Janet looked over at Ian.

"How do you want to do this?"

"Do what?"

"Want me to take you home first, and then take Andrew? Or I could call Emmett or someone to meet us at your place and drop you and the car off and then we could take Andrew home…"

Oh.

"No, I'll go with you to take Andrew home. Then we can do whatever's easiest for you…"

She nodded, and with directions from Andrew, drove to his house first.

"I'll walk you in," Ian offered as he got out of the car so Andrew could as well.

Andrew nodded, giving Fraiser a smile.

"Thanks for coming and getting us, Doctor Fraiser. I'm sorry you had to."

She returned his smile.

"It was good spending time with you, Andrew."

He blushed at that, and her smile grew. Teenagers were so easy to embarrass sometimes.

"Thanks."

It was nice of her to say. He climbed out of the car and walked to the porch with Ian, who stopped at the steps. He had absolutely no desire to go inside and spend any time with Myra Stephens. She was far too enthusiastic and cheerful for the mood he was in just then. He did, however, have a few things he wanted to say to Andrew before they parted ways.

"You remember what I said about coming over?"

Andrew nodded.

"Is the offer still on the table?"

Ian gave him a partial smile.

"Yeah. You have a ton of potential, you know. And an opportunity that no one else in the world has – except Shawn. You can't let life get you down and fuck that up for you."

Andrew felt warm inside at the praise, and he realized that Ian was right about not letting it go to waste.

"Thanks, Ian."

Ian shrugged.

"Talk to your mom and dad and make sure they're okay with you coming over. I'll give you a call tomorrow night sometime to find out what's good for you."

Andrew nodded again.

"I'll let you know."

"We didn't get your cousin a surprise."

Andrew had forgotten all about the promise to bring Micah back a present to make up for him not coming along, but he shrugged.

'He'll get over it."

"Tell him we'll take him to a movie or out for pizza sometime next weekend."

Andrew snorted.

"You _sure_?"

"If someone had promised me something and hadn't brought it to me, I'd be pretty pissed off," Ian said. "Besides, I don't like breaking the promise."

"Well, we did have other things to think of."

"Just tell him there wasn't anything to get him, and we'll make it up to him later."

"He'll like that."

Ian nodded, ad turned to look back at the car.

"I'd better get going."

"I'm sorry about your car."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks."

Andrew turned and headed up the steps, feeling better than he had in probably a year, and Ian turned around and headed back to the car, getting in and awkwardly buckling his seatbelt, and Janet started the car.

OOOOOOOO

They didn't head for Janet's house like Ian had almost expected. Instead, twenty minutes later, they pulled up outside the O'Neill's.

"I'll have Sam drive me home," Janet said when Ian gave her a quizzical look. "Colonel O'Neill can take _you_ home, and Sam can pick him up on the way back from my place. _And_ I can call Cassie and let her know we're home safe and I'm on my way."

It made sense. Ian nodded, and opened the car door, cringing at the thought of letting Sam see what he'd done to her car. Before he or Janet had either one managed to even reach the sidewalk, the front door opened and Jaffer bolted out, a black flash that was far too big to be moving that quickly. Tail wagging cheerfully; he waited politely while Ian opened the gate to the picket fence, and then whuffled both of them eagerly, being surprisingly careful with Ian – as if he knew he was hurting.

Ian slapped the lab's shoulder, feeling better just seeing him, and Sam appeared at the doorway, holding a blanket-wrapped Jacob in one arm as she smiled at the two of them.

"You made it!"

Janet smiled, reaching over and taking the baby from her. She never saw him enough.

"It was an adventure, let me tell you."

"Mom."

Cassie appeared at the doorway, then, as well, dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and not wearing any shoes.

Janet gave Cassie a smile, but her arms were filled with baby, so she simply moved aside as Cassie came outside to greet Ian, along with Sam, who was dressed similar to Cassie.

"How are you?" Cassie asked, resisting the urge to reach out and touch his cheek. He looked like he was hurting a little, and his hand was sporting a big bulky bandage, but it was more that she wasn't sure if he'd want to be held or touched just then.

"I'm okay, Cassandra." He gave her one of his rare smiles, and looked at Sam, and his dark eyes clouded with guilt. "I messed up your car…"

Sam didn't hesitate at all. _She_ wasn't an uncertain teenager. She was a mother, and she could read him so easily that it was almost painful to see just how badly he felt. Not how much he _hurt_ – because she knew he was hurting, she could see that, too – but because he thought he'd ruined something she loved. She pulled him into a hug, careful not to hurt him, and ran her fingers through his dark hair; automatically feeling for bumps and stitches.

"It's just a _car_, Ian," she told him. "I'd have been far more upset if you'd been hurt badly."

"What happened?" Cassie asked, curiously. "Did you _really_ get attacked by a bear?"

It sure looked like he had.

Feeling better for having been reassured about the car – although it _wasn't just a car_ to him – Ian gave Sam a quick squeeze and pulled away, although she kept one arm around his waist.

"Yeah, the little f-"

"Lead Foot!"

Janet groaned, and still holding Jake in her arms, she turned and met Jack's cheerful grin as he came to the doorway. Sam chuckled; and moved from Ian's side, relinquishing that position to Cassie.

"Let's go inside, you guys."

Jack could tease Janet just as easily inside as he could outside.


	30. 30

They spent almost an hour at the O'Neill's, but that was about it. Janet turned down Sam's invitation to dinner, as did Ian. He was tired, moody and miserable, and well aware that he wasn't good company for anyone to keep. Janet was tired as well, and definitely wasn't dressed for any prolonged stay. Besides, she wanted to take a hot bath.

"I'll drive Ian home," Sam said as they were getting Jacob bundled into a warm outfit. "You take Cassie and Janet and come by and get me."

Jack nodded and looked over to where Ian was sitting on the sofa beside Cassie, his good arm unobtrusively around her and his bandaged hand in his lap. He was half asleep, and not paying any attention to the baseball game that was playing on the TV. Cassie was snuggled up against him, carefully avoiding touching his chest – which Sam had convinced Ian to show them. The four scratches on his chest were probably going to scar, Jack decided, but for now they were red and angry looking – although Janet said they weren't infected.

"He's a little big to carry up to his bed…"

Sam smiled.

"I'll have Jaffer drag him up for me."

Which told Jack that she was going to take Jaffer. Since he was going to be taking Jacob, he was going to take the car – although they had a car seat in the truck, too. It was just easier to load four people – if you counted Jake as a people, just yet – into a car than it was to load them into his truck.

He nodded, and picked up Jake, cuddling him close and looking at the others. Janet was dozing in the big easy chair, and looked just as tired as Ian did.

"Lead Foot? You ready to go?"

She scowled, opening her eyes and looking over at him.

"I wasn't going _that_ fast…"

"How fast was she going, Ian?" Jack asked the cadet, who had opened his eyes when Jack had spoke to Fraiser.

"A hundred and two."

"_A hundred and two_?" Cassie asked, amazed.

Janet scowled again, this time at Ian, who was still waking up and unaware of the dirty look he was getting.

"You're lucky they didn't throw you in jail," Sam said, smiling as she reached for her shoes.

"I think they were more worried about Ian than they were me and Andrew," Janet told them. "He was the one who had the big automatic pistol in his glove box, after all."

Ian shrugged. It wasn't a secret that the gun was there – although it was usually locked up and protected a bit better than it had been. The glove box was seldom unlocked, and there was a good security system on the car, after all. Like he'd risk losing that Glock. His parents had given him that gun, after all.

"As opposed to the bag of drugs?"

She sniffed, standing up and reaching slipping her feet into the borrowed shoes once more.

"Not drugs. _Medicines_."

Ian smiled, tiredly and gave Cassie a slight squeeze before standing up. He hadn't had a lot of time with her, but at least he'd been able to hold her and not worry about anyone frowning about it.

"You ready?" Sam asked him.

He nodded, and leaned over and kissed Cassie, softly.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow sometime, okay?"

She nodded, smiling and blushing at the same time – wondering why he always made her blush like that.

"Be careful."

"I'm just going home. What could possibly-"

"Don't ask that," Sam interrupted. "Otherwise we'll probably find out."

Ian smiled and nodded, and looked at Janet.

"Thanks again."

She returned the smile, but had a few last minute orders for him.

"Make sure you keep your hand and your chest dry – no shower. I'll see you in my infirmary first thing in the morning to change the bandages and check to make sure there's still no infection."

"Yes, ma'am."

Everyone in the room stared at him. Even Jake seemed to be looking at him in shock – although that was just because he was facing Ian and was in the middle of dirtying his diaper.

Ian scowled, and headed for the door, and Janet turned to Sam, just as surprised as everyone else.

"Did he just say what I thought he just said?"

Sam nodded wordlessly, and it was a full moment before any of them actually moved to follow Ian out the door.

OOOOOO

"It's not that bad…"

Ian ran a hand along the deepest of the scratches on the hood of the car and looked at Sam. The two of them were standing outside his apartment building, with Jaffer sitting beside Sam, his hulking form obviously guarding her in Jack's absence.

"It's pretty bad."

"It can be fixed," Sam assured him, bringing her arm around his lean waist, turning him easily away from the car and towards the door. "Come on, I'll make you something to eat while we wait for Jack and Jake."

He let her turn him, and decided that he could forget about how bad the car was for the moment. It wasn't like he could do anything until he could call the insurance guys, anyways.

"I'm not sure I have anything to cook…"

She smiled, and opened the door for him, both of them holding back as Jaffer went through the door first.

"If all else fails, we'll call Jack and tell him to stop and get burgers on the way. You look tired, I bet you could use something a little more solid in you than a bowl of cereal before you go to bed."

He wondered how she knew he'd been planning on a bowl of cereal for dinner in lieu of actually attempting to cook something, but he didn't say anything as he unlocked the door to the apartment and gestured for her to enter first.

Sam walked into the living room, impressed as always by just how neat he kept the place, and headed for the living room while Ian flopped down on the sofa, worn out just from going from the car to the apartment. He turned his head and watched as she went through his cupboards, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'll call Jack. What kind of burgers do you want?"


	31. 31

At 11:40 the next morning, a mud brown four-door sedan pulled up to the main gate of the Cheyenne Mountain complex. The guards at the gate grinned once they saw who was driving it, and held up a hand to indicate that the driver needed to stop. Besides, it wasn't registered as a military car, and as such, it needed to get a temporary sticker before it would be allowed on the base.

"Nice car, Cadet."

Ian scowled as he carefully put the car in park to avoid jarring his hand – which was absolutely killing him.

"It was the only one the rental place had that wasn't a stick."

"That's what we heard."

Ian scowled again, wondering what else they'd heard – and who they'd heard it from.

About five minutes after Sam and Jack had left with Jacob the day before, Ian had been on the phone with the insurance company. He was tired and aching, but anxious to get his car taken care of. The company was a good one, and prompt, and had sent an adjuster out immediately. By the time Ian had finished wolfing down the burgers that Jack had brought him, there was a knock on the door and a woman in her mid thirties was standing there, ready to ask him all about what had happened.

An hour later, she'd left, promising him that a rental agency would have a car for him first thing in the morning, and she'd come by and take him to pick it up whenever was convenient for him. The whole story he'd told her had been unbelievable, she'd told him, but she'd also admitted to him that it wasn't anywhere near the oddest thing she'd ever heard – although it was the craziest so far that week. When she'd left, Ian had called Jack, telling him that he was going to be late the next morning and asking him to pass that on to those who needed to know – Fraiser and Hammond, specifically. Then he'd gone to bed, sleeping fitfully, but not getting up for anything until the next morning.

Annoyance and curiosity won out over aloofness.

"How did you hear that?"

The Sergeant smiled.

"Your insurance adjuster is related to an Airman – who in the interest of his own hide has sworn everyone to secrecy – and he couldn't get to work fast enough this morning to tell everyone how you and your car were attacked by a family of bears."

Ian scowled again.

"That's fucking great."

While they'd been talking, the private who was with the Sergeant had been writing down the VIN number of the car, and Ian's name and rank, and handed him a temporary sticker for the rental.

"Do we get to see the marks on your chest?" The Sergeant asked, his smile even broader. They rarely had a good chance like this – and Ian was so hard to pick on that it was priceless to have him such a situation.

"Not a chance in hell," Ian told him as he took the sticker for the car.

"Pass, friend," the Sergeant said, moving out of the way. "Doctor Fraiser left a message for you to go straight to see her."

"Thanks."

Ian put the car in drive and headed for his customary parking spot.

OOOOOOOOO

"How's the hand?"

"It hurts," he admitted, watching as Janet Fraiser started unwrapping the bandages on it.

"Scale of one to ten? One being not at all, ten being excruciating?"

He hesitated.

"Five, maybe…?"

It was probably a lot closer to ten than that, Janet decided, watching his face as she unwrapped his hand, but she didn't argue with him. The gashes were still a bit swollen and red, but lacked any sign of infection. They were deep and they were going to hurt him, but it wasn't life-threatening.

"I'll give you pills for the pain," she told him as she slathered antibiotic cream over the wounds. "They won't make you loopy, so don't panic, but they will cut down on how much it hurts – and they will help make it so you're not grounded from missions – as long as you don't have to shoot a handgun."

He nodded, watching as Janet finished what she was doing, and wrapped the hand again.

"Did you have lunch?" she asked as she reached for a bottle of small white tablets.

"Not yet."

"You need to go eat before taking these, or they'll tear up your stomach."

"Okay."

"You know where to find me if you need something stronger."

He nodded again, but Janet knew he'd never ask her for anything stronger.

"Thanks."

She smiled.

"Off with you. I have real patients to look after."

Ian returned her smile, and headed for the door. Lunch sounded great.

OOOOOOOOO

"Ian Brooks."

He turned as he was exiting the elevator, and saw Teal'c coming towards him, the hulking Jaffa making even the largest of Marines look small as he walked past them.

"Hey, Teal'c."

"I heard of your injury. It was not my intention for you to be injured when I requested your assistance with Andrew Stephens."

Ian shrugged.

"It was my own fault. No biggie."

"Did you have an opportunity to speak with Andrew?"

Now that he knew Ian wasn't going to hold a grudge about getting injured – and really, Teal'c didn't expect him to – he was interested in how things had gone.

"Plenty of time," he said. "I'm on my way to the commissary. You want to come?"

Teal'c nodded, and walked with him.

"I talked to him a couple of times," Ian reported. "I think his biggest problem is that he's way on the outside looking in just now."

"Explain."

"He thinks he should have went into the academy when Shawn did, because he's feeling left out of things right now – and with good reason, since the only challenge he has right now are the classes he's taking with Thor and the Asgard. Not to mention, he doesn't get to see as much of you and the others as he'd like, so he's a little lonely."

"I endeavor to see him as often as I can."

"He knows, Teal'c," Ian assured him as the two of them entered the commissary, which was filled with Marines and Air Force personnel eating their lunches. "And he understands that you're busy. I offered to let him come over to my place a few times a week – to prepare him for the classes he'll be taking next year at the academy – so that'll probably help the loneliness issue."

Not that Ian was the best company in the world, but he was better than nothing. At least Andrew didn't have to pretend to be something he wasn't with him.

"That was very kind of you."

Ian smiled.

"I can use the company."

Cassie couldn't come over every night, after all.

"Hey Brooks!"

Ian and Teal'c both looked over. A large group comprised of a mixture of Airmen and Marines was sitting at a table, and had obviously been discussing Ian's adventure. One of them – a Lieutenant – had been the one to call his name.

"I'll give you twenty bucks if you show us your chest…" he said, holding up a bill.

Ian scowled.

"Do I look like your mother at Mardi Gras?"

The others howled with laughter, and Ian and Teal'c walked over to the line of people waiting to get something to eat.


	32. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

"Ian!"

He turned just in time to catch the attack of the boy, and grabbed him up – still babying his right hand but not nearly as much as he had the last week – and tossed Micah over to River, who caught the slight boy easily and then wrestled him to the ground and started tickling him.

Shawn, taking advantage of the distraction, tried to run between Ian and Andrew, but Andrew reached out and caught him by the hem of his sweatshirt, pulling him down and wrestling the football away from him. Only to have Ian steal it from him a moment later and turn to run for the makeshift goal post. Ian barely turned around before he ran straight into the very solid form of Teal'c, and crashed to the ground, a little stunned.

Powerful hands pulled him easily to his feet, and Teal'c gave him a concerned look.

"Are you injured, Ian Brooks?"

"Nah. No worse than if I'd ran head first into a brick wall."

"That is fortunate."

River came over a moment later, breathing hard and carrying Micah by the waistband of his jeans, making him look like nothing more than a seven-year-old piece of luggage. The Californian was enjoying himself immensely. He'd never had brothers to wrestle with and his sisters weren't all that fond of doing it – even for him. The day at the park with Ian, Teal'c and Shawn had been just the thing as far as he was concerned, and add to the mix Andrew – who River was finding to be just as good company as Shawn was – and Micah, who was a cute little bugger – and it was a toss up who was enjoying the day more.

"Hey guys," he said, pulling Shawn easily to his feet with his free hand when the younger cadet made no move to get up. "I'm hungry. Micah? Are _you_ hungry?"

"Yeah!"

"See? Micah's hungry. We should feed him before Andrew's aunt and uncle decide to take him away from us for neglecting him."

The little boy giggled and was promptly dropped to the ground – not at all roughly – where he picked himself up and looked up at the others, hopeful. _He_ more than any of them, was having the time of his life. Not only was he spending time with his cousin, but also his cousin had some very fun friends – and they were treating him like one of the gang and not some little tagalong kid. He was loving it! It was definitely better than having them bring him back some dumb old surprise, that was for sure.

Ian nodded, looking at Shawn and Teal'c.

"We ready to go eat?"

Shawn nodded.

"I get to ride with Ian!" Micah yelled, running for the convertible as soon as he was certain they were leaving.

"Of _course_ he does," Andrew said, rolling his eyes and grinning at Ian in apology for the way Micah had attached himself to the New Yorker. Not only did Ian have his car back – and it gleamed in the spring afternoon sunshine – but Ian was Micah's new hero, just because he'd taken the time to remember a simple promise made to him, when most would have shrugged it off as unimportant.

"Don't worry," Ian said. "If he falls out, we can always go back for him."

Shawn smiled.

"That's more than he'd do for me."

"And don't forget it, Adams."

"Where are we eating?" Teal'c asked. He'd left Jack (the dog) at the O'Neill's for the afternoon, so they would be free to eat inside or out, or do whatever they wanted to do, and Ian drew his attention from watching Micah – just to make sure no weirdo as going to try anything with the boy while he waited beside the convertible – and shrugged, looking at Shawn and River.

"Pizza?"

"Fine with me," River said. He, of course, was always willing to eat – and he didn't usually care what it was.

"That works," Shawn agreed. "River and I will ride with Teal'c, you take Andrew and we'll meet at Shay's in fifteen minutes."

Ian scowled.

"You're not old enough to be giving the orders around here, Adams," he said, poking the cadet in the chest with a finger.

Shawn snorted.

"Fine, Dances With Bear Cubs, what do _you_ want to do?"

Ian ignored the title – it was far from the first time he'd heard it the last week – and resisted the urge to toss Shawn into a snow bank. For one thing, he probably couldn't have done it, and for another, there was no snow left on the ground in the park.

"I'll take Andrew and Micah, you and Hayden go with Teal'c. We'll meet at Shay's in… _ten_ minutes."

"Good plan, Ian," River smirked. "You must be some kind of _genius_ or something."

"And don't you forget it." He looked over at Andrew. "Come on, Stephens. We'll save the table, so they have to buy."

Andrew nodded.

"Sounds fair to me."

"Hey!"

Ignoring River's protest, Ian and Andrew headed for the convertible, while Teal'c, River and Shawn all headed for Teal'c's motor pool car. Micah danced excitedly in place while they approached, and at Ian's gesture, opened the door and got into the back, buckling his seatbelt tightly before Ian would have to remind him.

"Did you get that practice paper done?" Ian asked Andrew as they got in the car as well.

"Yeah, I finished it during my algebra class yesterday."

Ian had been good to his word about having Andrew over and helping him prep for the classes he was going to be taking at the academy the next year. The last week, the teenager had found himself sitting in Ian's living room twice, after dinner but before the set time for Thor's lessons, looking over papers that Ian had written out for him – papers that were similar to the first homework assignments Ian had been given when he'd started the academy that year.

Andrew wasn't sure exactly why Ian was spending so much time with him – and he was spending a lot of time with him, compared to what little time he'd had with any other friends – but he was loving it. Ian was smart, cocky and just a bit unstable when it came to his temperament, and Andrew loved it. He'd never dream of cussing some guy out just for making a stupid comment in front of him in line, or giving him a dirty look, but Ian had no problem doing just that, and then proceeded to back up that cussing out when the guy started to threaten him. He was sure that his mother and father – and probably all the other adults in his life – wouldn't approve of that kind of thing, but Andrew thought it was awesome, and while Shawn was his best friend, Ian was quickly becoming something of a mentor.

"We'll hook up on Wednesday," Ian said, starting the car as Teal'c pulled out of the parking lot ahead of him, River putting his hand out the passenger side window and flipping them off (obviously forgetting the promise to Andrew's aunt that they not swear or make rude gestures in front of Micah) and Ian returned it automatically with a gesture of his own. "You can tell me more about what Thor told you about the tendencies of the recombinant DNA patterns in the Asgard while I check your work."

Andrew nodded.

"Sounds good."

There was no one else on Earth – besides Shawn – that he'd ever be able to have _that_ particular conversation with and Andrew knew it. He didn't even stop to wonder why Ian was so interested in the Asgard physiology – who _wouldn't_ be interested? – he was just glad to have someone intelligent to talk to.

"You bring the pop."

"You got it."

"They're _winning_," Micah said, interrupting from the back seat as Teal'c turned the corner ahead of them.

"Don't worry, Micah," Ian said, easily switching conversations from complex DNA to a topic any seven year old could follow. "I know a shortcut."

He turned the corner going the opposite direction, and smiled when he heard Micah's excited giggle.

Andrew smiled as well; leaning back in the seat and relaxing, since he knew there was no way Ian was going to speed with Micah in the car. He hadn't felt so good about things in a long time, and while he knew that he had a lot of challenging work ahead of him, he was also well aware that Ian had been right. He had a chance of a lifetime, an opportunity that no one would ever imagine. And he wasn't going to let it slip past him. Especially now that he had help understanding it. And another friend to share it with him.

**The End.**

_So? Tell me! What did you think?_


End file.
